Step Aside
by merlotblanc1
Summary: Beca's parents divorced when she was 10 years old. Her father eventually, 8 years later, met the woman of his dreams and they soon got engaged. Beca did not mind, since she never saw her father anyway and stayed with her mother, but now that she goes to Barden, it is a problem. Why? Her soon-to-be stepsister, Chloe, goes to Barden too, and they hate each other... BECHLOE
1. Chapter 1

"Beca!" Aubrey frowned as she looked at the small alt girl. "We all know the choreography except you! Chloe? Explain this." Aubrey pointed to Beca while looking furiously at her red headed best friend.

Chloe was annoyed and, well, a bit ashamed. She may or may not have been keeping herself from helping Beca with the dance routine, but to her defence, Beca never cooperated. Beca hated it when she touched her and guided her through the choreography. And Beca did not mind when she gave up on helping the brunette, and being ignored by Beca irritated Chloe most of all.

"Beca hates it when I help her." Chloe finally shrugged, looking defeated, while rolling her eyes at Beca.

"I don't _want_ your help." Beca flatly replied. Chloe looked away pointedly, her fists clenching as she folded her arms.

Aubrey pointedly stared at Beca, looking dissatisfied with Beca's retort, so Beca continued: "It is an easy routine, I will learn it as we go along and I don't need Chloe biting my head off every time I am a bit off beat. Okay?"

Chloe gave Aubrey an 'I told you so' look, and Aubrey sympathetically nodded to her best friend. God knows, she can't imagine having Beca as a stepsister and she feels sorry for Chloe.

"You kinda _do_ need her help." Amy mumbled to nobody in particular. Stacy nodded enthusiastically to the other Bella's, and the dj rolled her eyes at them.

"Rolling your eyes won't win us Nationals, Beca!" Aubrey snapped.

"Our _set_ won't win us Nationals, Aubrey, and our little dance routine here is not something spectacular as well. If we want to win we need to change our set. I don't think the song, I Saw The Sign, will help us win. You are ironically blind to see the signs here, Aubrey, people are bored with us! We are not going to win _anything_ and it _sucks_!" Beca preached, looking for support from the other Bella's, who all suddenly took an intense interest in anything else but Beca and Aubrey.

Aubrey opened her mouth to reply, but no words were coming out. Beca thought that Aubrey might puke, and for a second felt quite bad for being so harsh.

_Aubrey just had to deal with it_, Beca thought angrily.

"Oh, look at that, guys. Beca actually gives a shit about a cappella." Chloe murmured sarcastically, breaking the tense silence.

"Shut up. I only do this to please my father, and because my soon to be stepsister, you, harassed me naked in a shower to join this group."

"Suddenly you are the family dependent girl. All for the family, right? I almost felt lucky just now, realising you will be my lovely stepsister." Chloe replied tartly.

"You should be." Beca smirked, and winked at Chloe.

"You got to be kidding me." But Chloe blushed. Beca said those exact words to her in the shower, when she told Beca that she was pretty confident about her body, after they sang Titanium in perfect harmony together. It worked, since Beca came to audition, but she hated Beca for bringing that up now.

"Aca-awkward." Fat Amy mumbled, and Cynthia Rose coughed awkwardly into a fist. Lily stared at them all and softly mumbled, "I kill unicorns with fire." Stacy looked confused from Lily, to Chloe and to Beca with her arms folded, and irritatingly mumbled that she needed to have some serious sex to deal with all the Bella dramas.

Meanwhile, Aubrey was red with fury. Her eyes moved from Beca to Chloe like lightning sparks. When she finally spoke, however, her words were surprisingly calm.

"I will ignore your immature outburst, Beca. Chloe will teach you the choreography when we leave here today, and if you do not know it by tomorrow, I will throw your chair out of this hall myself."

"Aubrey, give us one week." Chloe suggested quickly, knowing it would take Beca a very long time to learn all the choreography. She was so not prepared to work through the night to make it happen while enduring all the stepsister related insults from Beca.

"No, Chloe, you will teach her the moves today. I don't care whether you two will be stepsisters or not and whether you two hate each other – you just need to deal with it all! The Bella's and I are tired of your little sibling fights every time we rehearse."

Chloe and Beca stared at each other. Aubrey won the battle and they both knew she had a point. Beca and Chloe fighting constantly did make it more difficult for all the Bella's during rehearsals. Fat Amy and Cynthia Rose even started to bet money on who of the two of them would snap first during practice. Cynthia always won the bet, to Amy's dismay.

_If I was actually to learn all this, at least Chloe will hate every second of teaching me the routine._ Beca thought, and smirked when she saw the extreme reluctance written all over Chloe's face.

"Fine, Aubrey. I will learn the choreography tonight. I am sure Chloe will try her best to guide me through it all." Beca sweetly responded. Chloe simply glared at her.

"Don't smirk at me." Chloe warned Beca silently. "This is your fault."

"I am not smirking." Beca replied, which was technically true, since she was now smiling at Chloe.

"Urgh!" Chloe folded her arms and turned her back to Beca and the other Bella's. She looked at Aubrey for help, but Aubrey simply lifted her shoulders.

"Chloe, you are my best friend, and I have empathy with you for having this dwarf as your soon-to-be stepsister."

"Hey!" Beca interrupted Aubrey, but the blond promptly continued:

"As co-captain, Chloe, you need to take responsibility for your own personal issues to avoid teaching Beca the choreography. We compete in two weeks and we look and sound like _shit_." Aubrey ended her little speech rather forcefully, and nodded to the other Bella's. "Let's call it a day."

"Oh yeah! Extra time to spend with some of my boyfriends, yo. I can't wait to jump them like a kangaroo in my supah big swimming pool." Amy announced to the Bella's, seemingly unfazed now with Chloe and Beca, and by Aubrey saying that they are shit.

"You do it in the pool too?" Stacy asked Fat Amy. Fat Amy nodded and Cynthia high fived Amy. Beca silently promised herself never to swim in Fat Amy's pool. Ever.

"The rehearsal is aborted." Aubrey flatly interrupted Amy and Stacy, who were busy mimicking provocative positions while the Bella's laughed at them, even Beca started to laugh and she saw out the corner of her eye Chloe suppressing a grin too.

"Let's go party." Amy laughed and turned to leave. "Good luck there, Short Stuff, don't let the Flames burn you!" Fat Amy referred to Chloe's red hair, and winked at them both.

The Bella's followed Fat Amy out of the hall and Aubrey followed them. Aubrey stopped at the doorway, and gave Beca and Chloe an 'I-will-kill-you-if-you-fuck-this-up' look, before she swiftly turned and disappeared onto campus.

Beca looked unsurely towards Chloe. Suprisingly, Chloe was smiling at Beca.

"Why are you smiling?" Beca asked Chloe, not finding the situation humorous at all.

"I can't wait to get into your personal space, little step sister, while teaching you the entire little dance routine. If I recall correctly, you said it is an easy, stupid _little_ dance routine, didn't you?"

"I am not your sister. I barely know you or your mother. Stop saying the word little." Beca responded, sounding bored.

"Well, that will change. Maybe you and I will dance a _little_ piece at their wedding together." Chloe added, her blue eyes shining with mischief, "My mom and your dad will just love that." Chloe laughed when she saw an annoyed Beca looking at her with her arms folded.

"Just because my father thinks the sun shines out of your asses doesn't mean I do." Beca responded crassly, referring to Chloe and Chloe's mother. Her father liked them more than Beca, and the brunette just couldn't take that.

"Oh, but you can't deny that I do have a cute ass though, since you checked me out in the shower and admitted that I should be proud of all my, uh, _assets_." Chloe was walking towards Beca, and felt victorious when she saw Beca blush a little. She liked making Beca uncomfortable, and she liked that it was something she could so easily manage.

Beca gulped, _what was Chloe doing?_

This is definitely a different approach of interaction from the red head. Chloe was standing very close to her, and Beca could smell Chloe's perfume.

_She really has pretty eyes,_ Beca thought. _Wait_. _What is wrong with me? Chloe is a bitch and my soon-to-be stepsister, just because my stupid dad worships everything brilliant old Chloe does, doesn't mean I should._

Beca features hardened at her thoughts, and Chloe noticed. Chloe wondered what made Beca look so upset, so she decided to step back from the brunette. Maybe she pushed her new tactic to piss Beca off too far.

"Let's just begin, Chloe." Beca silently said. Chloe nodded and stepped into a position next to Beca. This time she chose to stand a little farther away from the dj.

"Okay. When I count to three, I want you to move your hands upwards. Like this." Chloe showed Beca the move, and Beca began to do the move as well.

"Wow, this is the first time you actually listened to me." Chloe proudly noticed. She looked appreciatively towards Beca.

"Cut the crap, Beale. Just continue so that we can get this over with. I don't exactly want to spend the whole night in your company."

Chloe looked a bit hurt, but recovered quickly. "I agree. I had to cancel my plans with Tom during practice so that I can do this for you, you know."

"Do this for me? How sweet. You are the co-captain, suck it up. And Tom looks like an asshole, so it is not exactly a loss."

"Oh, please, Beca. You blame the whole world for being assholes even though, in my book, you are the biggest asshole."

"Just continue, Chloe!" Beca yelled. Fighting with Chloe was not going to make this any easier.

Glancing sideways to Chloe, the red head seemed surprisingly happy to continue. Chloe happily took one step sideways which Beca dumbly followed, making Chloe smirk. And if Beca was being honest with herself, she wanted so much to smirk at the redhead as well.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

At next day of rehearsals there was a tense atmosphere. Everybody was curious to see whether Beca would pull the dance routine off or not. Aubrey and Chloe were standing before the Bella's and Chloe looked nervous. She and Beca practiced the routine until about 2am, and she would be so pissed if Beca forgets anything that she taught her. And to make it worse, everybody was present - except Beca.

Working and dancing together with Beca was surprisingly not _so_ bad. Chloe was surprised when she noticed that Beca actually had a lot of rhythm - Chloe never saw Beca dance before so she really did not know what to expect. There were, of course, a few awkward occasions where Beca snapped at Chloe for touching her, and Chloe snapped at Beca for constantly calling her "big sister", but overall it went well_. _

_Not to mention, Beca is quite hot when she dances, _Chloe thought, she was not ashamed to admit that Beca was hot. _I mean, a lot of people on campus think she is. Even Tom said she is. Beca is just oblivious to acknowledge her own beauty and probably would settle for the boring and pretentious Jesse._

The thought of Jesse irritated Chloe, so she looked down to her watch. Again.

"She is super late." Aubrey said with a disapproving expression.

"She is only 15 minutes late." Chloe defended Beca, and Aubrey raised an eyebrow at her co-captain.

"Are you actually _defending_ Beca?" Aubrey asked, looking surprised.

Chloe shrugged. She kept peeking at the door, waiting anxiously for the dj to arrive.

"Wow, last night must have been a bonding experience for the two of you." Aubrey commented, grinning.

"Aubrey, my head hurts. I am so not doing cardio today." Stacy announced, before Chloe could respond to Aubrey's comment. Stacy was wearing a massive pair of sunglasses and she was holding her head.

"Yes, don't count me in for horizontal running, Aubrey. I feel like Matilda waltzed on my forehead." Fat Amy added. She was looking an unhealthy shade of green. Beside her Jessica and Lily were barely awake.

"How much did you guys drink last night?"

"We drank a lot, Aubrey, _wow_ it was such a fun night!" Cynthia Rose responded, chuckling. "Too bad you guys couldn't make it." Cynthia Rose obviously did not have the amount of alcohol the other Bella's had. "We only came to rehearsals today to see whether Beca would know the routine. I hope she does. Or, maybe she decided to ditch the Bella's?"

"She knows the routine, Cynthia. She did not and will not ditch the Bella's." Chloe calmly replied, but she was worried. What if Beca decided to quit? Beca was so determined last night and Chloe never saw her so committed before. She just hoped that Beca would pitch, because the Bella's would be horrible without her.

All of a sudden, Beca was running into the hall. Jesse was jogging a bit behind her.

"What happened?" Chloe immediately thought something bad happened, and she walked worriedly towards Beca.

Beca was out of breath when she stopped, breathing heavily as she looked at the Bella's. "I'm so, so sorry. I had to work extra hours this afternoon at the radio station. Jesse brought me with his car. I owe him, like, so many free beers it's not even funny." Beca gave Jesse a thankful and awkward hug. Jesse smiled at Beca, also still catching his breath.

Chloe raised her eyes at Beca, feeling irritated. _So, what, you squirm when I touch you and you hug Jesse out of choice?_

Aubrey interrupted Chloe's thoughts.

"Who are you?" Aubrey asked Jesse, rudely.

"I am Jesse. Nice to meet you." He answered full of confidence and with an abundance of friendliness.

"Yes, very nice, and you are a Treble?" Aubrey asked, still with a tad of coldness.

"Yes. A capella rules!" Jesse shouted and pumped a fist in the air. Stacy was the only one who answered his outcry with an angry response, stating that her head would explode if he screams again. All the commotions were clearly proving too much for her hangover.

"Okay." Aubrey replied, awkwardly. "Yes, you are a Treble and that means you are not welcome here. Thank you, I would like you to leave now."

Jesse looked quite taken aback and unsurely opened his mouth to respond to Aubrey, but Beca intervened.

"Come on, Aubrey, he just _literally_ saved me by getting me all the way to rehearsal. He is a good one." Beca said, patting him clumsily on the head like he was some sort of pet. Jesse looked happily at Beca and glanced cautiously towards Aubrey.

"Yeah, I was just so focused to get Beca here on time that I ran all the way with her, and, uh, ultimately, I suppose, ended up in the lionesses den." Jesse weakly joked and Chloe rolled her eyes at his feeble joke. Surprisingly, Aubrey laughed at his remark. When everybody looked at Aubrey in surprise, she regained herself.

"Thank you for transporting Beca. Now we are having a rehearsal, so it is Bella's _only_." Aubrey and Jesse looked at each other for a while in silence.

"Okay!" Jesse suddenly exclaimed to everybody, breaking eye contact with Aubrey, while clapping his hands together. "I'm leaving." He clapped his hands together again, and awkwardly looked at Beca.

Beca raised an eyebrow him, smirking. _Did Aubrey just fluster him?_

"Good luck, Beca." Jesse fleetingly looked at Aubrey for the last time and he then practically ran out of the hall. Beca noticed that Aubrey's eyes followed him until he was out of sight.

_Interesting_, Beca thought while grinning internally. _Who would have known Miss Prude here would show interest in Jesse? And that Jesse would be flustered by Aubrey? I can't wait to mock the shit out of him!_

"So, Beca!" Aubrey loudly exclaimed, looking a lot happier than a while ago.

"Yes, Aubrey!" Beca responded, imitating Aubrey. Stacy groaned from the noise.

"Would you like to show us what Chloe taught you?"

Beca and Chloe looked at each other. Chloe nodded encouragingly at Beca.

"Sure."

Beca got in position.

Beca began to sing the songs of their set and started to dance the routine. She forgot for a while that all eyes were on her, and actually got lost a bit in the music she so hated. She remembered all the moves and internally beamed when she realised she was doing a great job. When Beca finished the routine and sang the final lyrics of their set, she stopped and blinked at the Bella's_. Did I honestly just pull that off?_

There was a bit of a stunned silence, but then, suddenly, all the Bella's cheered loudly and screamed cheers of congratulations to Beca. Fat Amy danced a victory dance, and even Stacy got up to join the other Bella's, all dancing now, hangovers long forgotten. Stacy randomly started to sing, _I'm A Slave,_ to Lily, who was turning around on one spot with her arms outstretched.

Chloe beamed proudly at Beca and without any hesitation, pulled Beca in for a hug. She was happily surprised when Beca patted her on the back, accepting her hug. It caused Chloe to pull Beca in much tighter, and Beca felt her heart stop at the contact. Chloe's perfume was intoxicating her, in a good way, and her grip was gentle around Beca's body, yet, possessively firm.

When Chloe abruptly broke the hug, Beca felt a weird urge pull Chloe close again, suddenly craving the contact from the redhead. She decided rather to fold her arms. She wanted to avoid Chloe's piercingly blue eyes that were staring down at her at all costs. Hugging Chloe was wonderful, and that made her feel horribly confused.

_I hate Chloe, I can't go around hugging her like that. _Beca silently scolded herself.

Aubrey was scribbling on a note pad, and eventually spoke to Beca.

"I'm satisfied, Beca. You actually _can_ dance. Who would have thought?" Aubrey grinned.

"Yeah, well, it's Chloe, she helped me so much and…"

"Now we only need to work on your non-existent facial expressions when you do the routine." Aubrey interrupted and Chloe laughed, and for once Beca did not roll her eyes at them, but smiled shyly. All this attention was making her very uncomfortable.

Chloe melted inside._ She is so adorable. And did she just praise me?_

"Yeah, who would have thought my dancing would have made so many people _so_ happy?" Beca dryly responded, pointing at Fat Amy now playing an imaginary electrical guitar.

"The celebrations are a bit over the top, yes." Aubrey replied silently, and loudly clapped her hands, which caused everybody to stop what they were doing and they silently began to make their way to their chairs.

"How does she do that?" Beca asked Chloe, and Chloe laughed, and it made Beca feel nervous again. Chloe laughing and smiling at her was refreshing, and it made her even more mind-blowingly beautiful.

Beca gulped_, I am only thinking all of this because I am not used to a friendly Chloe_.

"I don't know, and she even convinced you and me to work together." Chloe added, and chuckled, and she absentmindedly took Beca's hands in her own, pulling Beca closer to her. Their faces were inches away from each other.

Beca stared into Chloe's blue eyes for a while, her hands tingling at the contact. Her heart was beating in her throat. After what felt like a lifetime, Beca reluctantly removed her hands from Chloe's grip. The Bella's were still making their ways to their chairs and Aubrey was talking to Cynthia Rose about her hairstyle choice, so luckily nobody noticed their intimate interaction.

"Sorry." Chloe nervously apologised, unsure of what caused her to grab Beca closer to her.

"I need to go sit." Beca responded, distractedly. _What is happening?_

Beca went to take her seat at her usual spot while she felt Chloe's eyes following her. Beca sat down and covered her face in her hands, feeling very confused, trying to organise her thoughts.

_Chloe is not my friend or anything else, she will be my stepsister. She is popular, smart and pretty, yes, I might as well admit it, and she is friends with the hypocritical college students – those who pretend they are living the student life, while in reality - they live in massive apartments and drive BMW's. She probably listens to Taylor Swift in her car. My own freaking father invited her to dinner at his house last Sunday and never even bothered to invite me too. He called me, asking me about my philosophy grades, and nonchalantly mentioned that Sheila and he invited Chloe over and that they just finished their stupid organic dinner. Chloe was the daughter he always wanted, and he will never accept me, the alternative dj. _

Beca felt sad and depressed, as she lifted an eyebrow to watch Chloe.

The redhead was standing next to Aubrey before the Bella's, listening attentively to whatever Aubrey was barking at them now.

"…at the car wash tomorrow at 10am. We need to raise gas money to get to our performances, so it is important that you dress sexy and that you tell everybody about the car wash. I know this must be a surprise to you all, but I checked all your class schedules and tomorrow will be the only suitable day for all of us to do it. Those who want should dress in swimming attire."

"A bikini?" Stacy asked.

"Yes. Or a one piece. Whatever it is that makes you comfortable." Chloe answered quickly.

"And since we are all not in the correct mind-frame to practice today, we will practice on Saturday for 6 hours in total. I advise you all, Bella's, to bring enough liquids with you. Cardio will be a bitch." Aubrey said, smirking at the thought. "Chloe, do you want to add anything before we leave here today?"

"Yes. I am looking forward to see you guys at the car wash tomorrow!" Chloe shrieked excitedly, "Dress sexy, we need the money." Chloe winked at them, and silently wondered if Beca will make an effort to dress sexy as well. _I think she will look very hot in a bikini. _Chloe's eyes danced towards Beca's, but she immediately looked away when she saw the brunette looking at her as well.

"Until tomorrow then, Bella's." Aubrey greeted and the Bella's slowly stood and walked out of the hall.

Chloe watched Beca closely as she walked behind the dj towards the exit.

_Is it my imagination or is Beca looking sad? And why did she not complain about the car wash? The Beca I know will loudly and immediately refuse to take part in a sexy car wash._ Chloe overheard Beca talking to Jessica about some random dance club with cheap alcohol prices. _Maybe I am imagining it._

When they all were on campus and said their last goodbyes, Beca's phone rang. Chloe lingered a bit, trying to listen to the conversation. To her disappointment she couldn't hear what Beca said, because the brunette walked away from the Bella's when she answered the call and was now standing a distance away from the rest of them. But it was very obvious that Beca was furious and very annoyed at the caller. After arguing for a while, Beca ended the call, and threw her phone into her bag.

"Stepsister!" Beca screamed loudly at Chloe.

Chloe's heart sank. _Here we go again_.

"We will be having dinner with the family tomorrow at 7pm. Don't be late." Beca exclaimed. "My father told me to tell you that he can't wait to see you!" Beca rolled her eyes, and walked away.

"Ah, don't worry ginger, she will get used to the whole idea of you two becoming stepsisters." Fat Amy comforted, patting Chloe on the back.

"I don't want to be her stupid stepsister." Chloe mumbled softly as she watched Beca walking in the distance towards the direction of the dorms. Amy nodded a bit too understandingly at the redheads' words. "See you, Amy." Chloe sadly greeted.

_This is seriously fucked up sheez._ Fat Amy thought, before spotting one of her boyfriend's greeting her, walking to her happily.


	3. Chapter 3

Beca was walking slowly towards the student parking area where the car-wash was to be held.

The brunette spent a lot of time dressing up for the occasion. She was wearing a simple black dress over her blue bikini, because she reckoned it would be a bit weird to wear a jeans and a t-shirt over a swimsuit on a hot summer's day. She never really wore dresses, so she felt a bit uncomfortable as she walked on campus.

When Beca turned around the corner of the Humanities Faculty building, she finally saw the parking area in the distance. Some of the Bella's were already there.

Beca could make out the silhouettes of Fat Amy talking to a bunch of people and Stacy dancing on an enormous pickup truck, to the delight of many Barden football players. The music was loud and she suddenly felt a bit nervous about the car-wash.

"Oh god, I can't believe I'm going to do this." Beca anxiously spoke to herself, as she began to jog to the parking lot. "And why is everybody always earlier than me, it is only 5 minutes to 10, for fuck's sake." Beca glanced at her watch just to make sure.

She only had a few steps more to jog towards Aubrey, who was already in her bikini, sitting upright at a desk counting dollar bills, when she heard an angry voice speaking to her out of nowhere.

"Beca, you are late. Again." Chloe harshly spoke, eyeing Beca with an annoyed expression.

Beca wanted to answer, but she was speechless. Chloe looked beyond hot. She was wearing a red bikini and her legs looked as if it went on for miles. Her red hair hanged loosely on her tanned shoulders and her blue eyes looked bluer than ever. Chloe looked _perfect_.

"Do you like what you see, Beca?" Chloe teased. Beca checking her out thrilled her.

"No, you just frightened me when you crept up on me like that." Beca defended weakly, cringing at her lame excuse.

_Just look at her forehead or something. _Beca advised herself, she did not want to look at Chloe's body and definitely did not want to look into Chloe's blue eyes.

"Sure." Chloe winked.

"I thought it began at 10am?" Beca asked, trying to change the subject. She saw a light scar on Chloe's forehead, and wondered silently how she got that.

"We started 30 minutes earlier. Aubrey and I tried to call you last night, but you did not answer your phone." Chloe answered. She looked at Beca expectantly, waiting for some sort of explanation.

"Oh. Well, it is not my fault you guys change the plans constantly." Beca lamely defended herself, distracted by Lily who ran around a car with a very dirty cleaning-cloth. Cynthia Rose chased her with a water-gun, laughing.

Everybody was already in their swimwear.

"You should wear dresses more often. You look nice." Chloe complimented, nodding her approval as she checked Beca out.

"Don't you have cars to wash or something?" Beca angrily asked, stamping her foot irritatingly on the ground for effect. She was tired of Chloe having the upper-hand in their conversation since she arrived.

"Don't stamp your tiny foot at me." Chloe laughed. _She is so cute._

"It is not _so_ tiny." Beca angrily answered, which caused Chloe to grin.

"Come on, enough of _this_, you can start in your dress until you get more comfortable to wash in your bikini. We have a lot of cars to wash, Beca." Chloe pointed to a lot of cars standing in cue behind her.

"What do you mean _we_ have cars to wash?" Beca asked.

"We will be working in teams. You and I are in a team." Chloe simply explained.

"Why?"

"Blame Amy, it was her idea. We are all competing in teams together, and the team who washes the most cars wins a bucket."

"A bucket?"

"Yes, a bucket. _That_ bucket." Beca looked to where Chloe was pointing, and she saw a canary yellow bucket standing on the desk where Aubrey was still sitting, and the bucket had pink fluff sticking out from it. On it was a sign that read: 'The Best Wash-aaa Bel-laaa'.

"Who would want to win _that_?" It was the ugliest fucking bucket Beca has ever laid eyes on.

"As I said, blame Amy, she brought it along and suggested this whole thing. Aubrey agreed, saying it can be good for team-building and…"

"Beca!" Luke interrupted Chloe as he greeted Beca. He was shirtless and he pulled Beca in for a tight hug.

Chloe looked pained as she watched the pair.

Beca felt embarrassed, and broke the hug quickly.

"Chloe, this is Luke. He is my boss at the radio station." Beca introduced hastily.

"Oh, so you are the guy that makes Beca late for almost all her rehearsals?" Chloe responded, sweetly, but her eyes were cold. "I'm Chloe."

"Nice to meet you. Yeah, sorry about that. When I was a freshman I went through the same, it will get better." Luke laughed as he hugged Beca again with one arm. "Fat Amy invited me today."

"Oh, and why does it look like you are also washing cars?" Chloe responded sceptically, looking at his bare chest. He was also holding a cleaning-cloth.

"Uhm, yeah, Fat Amy makes us wash cars." Luke laughed, he pointed at Fat Amy laying down on a deck chair, sipping a cocktail. "But ah well, at least we are having a good time. And Stacy and Amy gave us some shots to drink, so it makes it more fun." Luke explained.

"I will keep that in mind when you make me stack albums next time." Beca responded, sarcastically.

"Don't get ideas." Luke laughed.

"It was nice to meet you. Come on, Beca." Chloe pulled Beca away from Luke and started to walk towards the cars they had to wash. Luke watched them walk away with a confused expression and Beca weakly turned and waved at him, before staring curiously at Chloe.

"What was _that_?" Beca asked the redhead. Chloe did not respond, but merely busied herself with a water hose, spraying a car.

"We need to wash cars to win, remember, talking to guys with English accents won't help us get anywhere." Chloe muttered.

"Were you jealous?" Beca jokingly asked. _Obviously_ Chloe was not jealous, but the idea humoured her.

Chloe's eyes glanced to Beca's in surprise, and she blushed.

"You _were_ jealous?" Beca incredulously asked.

"I was not jealous!" Chloe snapped, but again avoided Beca's eyes.

"You don't like it when your stepsister gets a bit attention, then, do you?" Beca laughed.

"_Stop_ with the stepsister bullshit!" Chloe looked angry.

"Okay, sorry. I joked." Beca answered. She surrendered her hands in the air.

"Get the soap." Chloe curtly demanded, pointing at a bag. Beca sighed and searched for it in the bag, while feeling seriously confused.

_Why would Chloe be jealous of Luke? And was Chloe jealous or was she just being a bitch, like always?_

"Heya sisthe's." Fat Amy was walking towards them, obviously unaware of the tension between the two of them. "How's it going?"

"We haven't even washed one car yet." Chloe answered, annoyed. _And if anybody will call us sisters again, I will physically attack them._

"Me too, I haven't washed any car. But Jim, Luke and Steven have. They already washed 7 cars for us." Fat Amy laughed. "For us, meaning, for Stacy and I. The conquerors." Fat Amy ended her sentence dramatically.

"That is cheating!" Beca exclaimed irritated, while she poured soap on the car Chloe was busy spraying with water.

"Yeah, well. Uh. You guys did not honestly think _these_ hands would wash a car, now did yah? Watch and learn, aca-bitches, watch and learn. We will be the winning team today." Fat Amy slowly and triumphantly lifted her hands to the sky.

"But how did you manage that? How did you make the guys wash the cars for you?" Chloe asked, interested. If she could avoid washing cars, she would do so gladly as well.

"Well, Stacy and I dance on that big pickup truck over there, and in return for our dancing we assign guys to the cars we want washed." Fat Amy pointed to Stacy, and surely enough, Stacy was dancing on a giant pick-up truck in a way that would make any stripper feel proud.

A guy loudly screamed: "Yeah!" as he handed Stacy a bunch of dollars. Stacy excitedly took the money and pointed towards a very dirty car, throwing a cloth at the guy. Beca has never seen a guy so excited to wash a car before.

"So, you make them pay you for dancing like strippers, in exchange for _them_ to wash cars?" Beca summarised their business scheme, sounding quite impressed.

"Yeah." Fat Amy mumbled, looking proud.

"Come on!" Chloe grabbed Beca's hand and led the way to the truck.

"No, Chloe, I am not going to dance like a stripper."

"Beca, I am _very_ competitive, we will do this." Chloe responded, her grip tightened around Beca's hand as she made her way through a bunch of students, all cheering for Stacy on the truck.

"Wait!" Beca exclaimed, sounding desperate. "Please? Can we not do this?"

Chloe stopped walking and looked at Beca, who was looking worried. Chloe's features softened at the sight, but she quickly thought of a plan to persuade the brunette. "Beca, if you do this, I will call your dad and tell him that we both can't make it to dinner tonight. How does that sound?"

Beca shrugged. It was a good deal.

"Fine." Beca murmured, folding her arms.

Chloe beamed, but quickly frowned as she observed Beca's dress again.

"What?" Beca flatly asked, as she saw Chloe grinning at her in her signature predatory-like style.

Chloe did not answer Beca.

She roughly pulled the dj closer to her. She lowered her face to Beca's neck, and softly breathed into the dj's ear: "We will win this if you dance in your bikini."

Beca gulped. Her heartbeat was going a thousand miles an hour. She was shocked senseless by Chloe's action, but she quickly gathered herself. _Two can play at this game. _Beca pulled Chloe in tighter, causing the redhead to yelp in surprise.

"Okay." Beca breathed into Chloe's neck now, and she felt satisfied when she felt Chloe's body tensing against hers.

Beca broke the embrace and pulled her dress over her head. She smirked at Chloe, who was staring dumbly at her now very exposed body in a bikini.

"Do you like what you see, Chloe?" Beca sweetly asked, happy to use Chloe's words against her.

"No, I…" Chloe responded hesitantly, hating the fact that she was blushing.

"Let's do this!" Beca grabbed Chloe's hand, sensing she would not get a response from the redhead.

Chloe smirked as she followed Beca, loving the fact that Beca was the one in charge all of a sudden.

"Hey Stacy?" Beca screamed over the loud music, as she climbed easily onto the massive pick-up truck while helping Chloe up as well. Stacy stopped dancing and looked curiously at Beca and Chloe. "Up for a bit of competition?"

Stacy did not have time to respond, because Chloe was already dancing and the crowd screamed loudly in appreciation. They were literally throwing their money at Chloe. Beca winked at Stacy glaring at them.

Beca was entranced by Chloe's dancing for a while too, and when the redhead smirked at her, she decided to start dancing as well. Chloe smiled at Beca's attempt to dance like a stripper, causing Beca to stop and to roll her eyes. Some of the guys in the crowd laughed as well, so Chloe protectively walked towards Beca, and started to use the dj as a stripper pole. The crowd cheered again, the dj's embarrassment long forgotten, excited about the girl-on-girl action displayed before them.

"Leave the stripper-dancing for the pro's." Chloe whispered to Beca, standing inches away from the brunettes face, and smirked when she heard and saw Beca gasp. Chloe moved effortlessly along with the rhythm of the song, making use of Beca in every way she could think of.

_Why did I agree to do this again? _ Beca silently asked herself as she felt Chloe touching her waist while performing a complicated move. "Oh, shit." Beca tensely breathed, and Chloe smiled. She enjoyed every moment of the dj's discomfort.

Beca decided to convert her focus to the crowd. The other Bella's were watching the turn of events, all now cheering Chloe on as well. Aubrey watched too, with her mouth open, as if she was deciding whether to put stop to the madness or not.

"Come help us to collect the money!" Chloe mouthed at Aubrey, who also noticed Aubrey staring at them, and Aubrey promptly climbed on the pick-up truck as well.

Aubrey grabbed money from the guys and threw cloths and soap to them, and ordered them away to cars that still had to be washed. Disappointedly they walked away to the cars, and some did not even bother to go wash a car at all. They were enjoying the show too much.

In all fairness, the Bella's were now making money by dancing like strippers, and Aubrey reckoned a lot of cars would drive away later that day without getting washed at all. But they needed the money, so she was happy to go along with it. For now.

Meanwhile, Stacy decided to continue to dance along with Cloe and with Beca, who looked quite happy to be Chloe's dance-pole. Together she and Chloe were working the crowd, and even Fat Amy got on the truck and performed her signature mermaid-dance, to the entertainment of everybody there. Chloe never let go of Beca the whole time, and she smiled when she realised that Beca was not so uncomfortable anymore, but even joining and dancing along with her at times.

It went on like that for quite a while, until Aubrey eventually and finally decided that they made more than enough money. She loudly blew her whistle, and Cynthia Rose ran to turn the music off.

Chloe, Stacy and Fat Amy stopped dancing, and cheered and clapped at the crowd in gratitude for their support. Beca waved at them too, and again saw Chloe smirk at her awkward gesture. "What?" Beca asked, feeling stupid. "Nothing." Chloe answered sweetly, as she watched Aubrey blowing her whistle again.

"Thank you, guys, for your support. You are awesome! The car-wash is over now." Aubrey announced loudly. The crowd let out moans of disappointment, but soon lost interest when they saw the Bella's climbing off from the truck.

The other Bella's awaited them, looking absolutely delighted. They made a ton of money.

"I'm so happy you guys did that! It means we don't need to wash cars the whole day." Jessica spoke, appreciatively.

"Yeah, that was super hot." Cynthia Rose agreed. "We need to go out and celebrate this! We made almost one thousand dollars the last time I counted, and that was like 20 minutes ago."

"Yeah bitches, let's go celebrate tonight at Bingo's! It's ladies night! Meaning we all need to get _laaiid _tonight, ladies." Fat Amy joked, making everybody laugh.

"Okay. Let's go out and celebrate, uh, _this_, but keep in mind that tomorrow is Saturday. We will be rehearsing for 6 hours, and I won't be lenient on you guys for having hangovers this time around." Aubrey strictly said.

"Urgh, guys, today was so much fun. And I can't wait to go out hunting tonight." Stacy added, excitedly, ignoring Aubrey's warning.

"Everybody can pick up their own messes, and then we can meet each other at 8pm at Bingo's." Aubrey spoke, annoyed that she can't get the Bella's minds off getting laid.

"No, Aubrey, wait." Chloe cheerily spoke up. "Who won the bucket?"

"Oh, I thought that was just a joke." Aubrey responded, pointing at the canary yellow bucket.

"You guys won." Fat Amy quickly spoke, as she looked at Beca and Chloe. "Stacy and I don't want it. And it was sort of a joke. I mean, I only brought it here because I don't want it anymore."

"Yeah!" Chloe screamed, ignoring the fact that it was a joke, and she roughly hugged Beca. "We won!"

_These hugs are getting out of hand._ Beca dryly thought, as she let Chloe hug her, feeling quite emotionally drained by the day she has had so far.

"Now, that _that_ is sorted, I guess we should clean up and we will see each other at Bingo's later. Does everybody have transport to get there?" Aubrey asked.

"Yeah, I don't have a car. So…" Beca answered.

"I will pick you up." Chloe quickly assured Beca. The Bella's looked surprised. Beca and Chloe surely got along a lot better the past two days.

"Cool." Beca shrugged, and Chloe smiled. Both looked at each other for a while, smirking, totally oblivious to the Bella's looking at them knowingly.

"I also don't have a ride." Jessica awkwardly spoke up, looking hopeful that Chloe would be happy to pick her up as well. When Chloe said nothing - she was too busy concentrating as she helped Beca into her black dress again - everybody again gave knowing glances at each other as they left poor Jessica hanging.

Fat Amy finally spoke up.

"I will lift you, mate." Jessica smiled relieved at Fat Amy, and the Aussie smiled back.

"Okay, clean up _everything_, Bella's, or I will make you practice for 7 hours tomorrow." Aubrey spoke up, pointing towards the empty soap bottles and dirty washing-cloths, feeling confused just like the other Bella's at Chloe's and Beca's,_ friendliness_.

Before Chloe could walk away to help the Bella's clean up, Aubrey pulled Chloe to the side.

"Chloe, what is up with you and Beca? I can see your toner from here, or shall I be blunt and call it a _boner_?" Aubrey silently asked, frowning.

"_What?"_ Chloe replied surprised.

"Don't play dumb. First you use Beca as a stripper pole, then you guys hug and share meaningful glances, and you willingly suggest to pick her up tonight, as if it is the most natural thing in the world." Aubrey felt quite annoyed that she had to explain herself.

"You criticised me for not getting along with Beca, and now that we are, you question that as well?" Chloe was upset with her best friend.

"Chloe, you are my best friend. I know when you like _like _someone. Beca is bad news, I don't want you to get hurt." Aubrey explained herself.

"How would you know if she is bad news or not? You don't even know her!" Chloe was losing her temper. Aubrey had no right to tell her that she _liked_ Beca, or to judge the dj. But Aubrey's words nagged at her.

_Aubrey has never lied to me before, why would she lie to me now? I don't like Beca, or do I?_

"Let's not speak about this now." Aubrey decided.

"We will not speak of this _ever_ again, Bree. You are ridiculous!" Chloe laughed crazily, and Aubrey raised an eyebrow at Chloe, the redhead's reaction confirmed her suspicion, but she said nothing.

"I need to go help the others clean up this mess." Chloe walked off, and furiously began to help Lily throw soap bottles into a garbage bag.

"That bottle of soap is not empty." Lily softly spoke up, but Chloe did not hear her and she furiously threw the bottle into the bag as well.

"You noticed it too, Captain?" Fat Amy spoke to Aubrey.

"What?" Aubrey jumped, she did not realise that Fat Amy was standing so close to them.

"Chloe and Beca? The connection?" Fat Amy smirked.

"Yes, I noticed." Aubrey answered. "When did you notice?"

"Ah, like, uh, _weeks_ ago." Fat Amy smiled.

"_Weeks_ ago? _Aca-scuse_ me?"

"Aca-believe it. I sorta suggested the teamwork thing today, to see if they, you know, would finally _click_. And my plan worked, I mean, I did so not foresee the whole stripper montage, but _that _helped a lot so…"

"Amy! You did that on _purpose_?"

"Yeah, and no, I might have suggested some of it and they followed the trail, it was fun." Fat Amy exchanged, not even pretending to look guilty.

"Aubrey, come help us tie up this bag up, please. I already broke a nail and you know how sensitive I am when it comes to my cuticle care." Stacy yelled. Cynthia Rose was holding a bag in position as Stacy struggled to tie it closed.

"Coming!" Aubrey yelled. "Don't tell anyone, Amy. Let's watch this thing unfold for a while before we interfere."

"Yeah, I think the Bella's all know already, or at least suspect something. Except for our little love birds, naturally."

"Great." Aubrey shrugged, as she walked to help Cynthia Rose and Stacy with the bag, feeling worried about her best friend.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

Chloe was lying on her bed in her bedroom. She shared a spacious apartment with Aubrey, who was still on campus attending a late Friday afternoon class. She was freshly showered and dressed in comfortable clothes. She angrily stared at her white ceiling. She was still angry with Aubrey.

_How could Aubrey think that I liked Beca? Beca is the most unpleasant and awkward human being that I have ever met, she disrespects everybody! Just look at the way she treats her own father. At least her father is still alive. I would give anything to see my father again – even just for a minute._

Chloe glanced at a picture frame on her bedside table, taken shortly before his sudden death 4 years ago.

He was laughing happily while holding a labrador puppy. Chloe decided to call him Pluto, since she took a weird interest in astronomy for a while back then. Chloe smiled when she remembered the day she took that photo.

Her father went out to adopt a puppy from an animal shelter, without anyone knowing about it. He and Chloe loved dogs, but since Chloe's mother was allergic they never got one. Chloe doesn't know why exactly he went out that day to buy Pluto, she only knew that the labrador was a great comfort for her and her mother after he died. Her mother is now on chronic allergy medication, and still complains at times about her block sinuses, but it is a small price to pay for having Pluto in their lives. It also meant that her mother was not completely alone when she left for college. When her mother met Dr. Mitchell, or Shane, 3 years after her father died, it was an even greater comfort knowing that her mother had someone who loved her.

Chloe liked Shane. He was funny and had a certain charm about it, and he made her mother smile and laugh, something that she barely did after her father passed away. He adored her mother and treated her with a lot of respect, so Chloe accepted him whole-heartedly. He spoke of Beca a lot and Chloe could tell that his strained relationship with Beca bothered him. She was excited to meet Beca when she heard that the dj would be going to Barden as well this year, since the brunette declined to visit her father or to meet them before that. It all, of course, went horrible wrong.

Beca hated her from the start, and the dj was unpleasant towards her mother, but surprisingly and weirdly enough her mother liked Beca a lot. Her mother always liked and disliked the same people Chloe liked and disliked, so it irritated her when her mother could not stop speaking about Beca after their first meeting. Her mother described Beca as being a "breath of fresh air" and that she was "truthful and not fake", so she urged Chloe to spend more time with Beca and to make her feel at home at Barden.

Chloe let out an irritated sigh. If only her mother knew the real Beca. The sarcastic Beca. The stubborn Beca. The Beca that smirked and that rolled her eyes at everything. And now Aubrey, out of all people, thought that _she, _Chloe_,_ liked Beca. It was absurd.

Chloe got up from her bed, and decided to call Shane. She had to cancel their dinner with him and her mother. She he knew he would be disappointed and that her mother would be irritated with her for cancelling, but she made a deal with Beca and had to keep it.

Chloe dialled his number and waited.

"Chloe!" Shane greeted happily, and Chloe smiled.

"Hi Shane."

"Did Beca tell you about dinner tonight? Are you guys coming? Your mother is busy making your favourite dishes, and home-made pizza, because Beca likes pizza."

"Yes, Shane, about dinner." Chloe felt horrible to cancel after hearing all of that. "We will not be able to make it unfortunately. We are having a very important Bella's get-together tonight, and we can't miss it." Chloe left out the bit of them dancing like strippers and going out to celebrate the large amount money they raised from it, thinking that that might be a little too much information to share.

"Oh." He sounded very disappointed, and Chloe hated herself.

"Yeah, it would have been fun to have dinner with you guys, while Beca was there too, for once." Chloe said, sounding a bit bitter. Beca never bothered to visit her father or Chloe's mother.

"Yes, it would have been." He still sounded very disappointed, and it made Chloe feel even guiltier.

"We can always make it for tomorrow night?" Chloe suggested, before she could stop herself. She knew Beca would hate that, but the dj just had to accept the change of plans.

"If that is fine with you guys?" He asked, sounding hopeful and happy again.

"Sure, and Beca will come as well." Chloe assured him confidently, while not feeling confident at all that Beca would agree to go. She would have to deal with that later, though.

"Great. Thank you, Chloe. We will see you guys tomorrow night at 7pm then." Shane lauged.

"Yes, I'm looking forward. Say hello to my mom, and to Pluto!"

"Will do so. Enjoy the Bella get-together, say hello to Beca for me."

"Sure, bye Shane."

"Bye!"

Chloe ended the call feeling relieved. _At least that is over with now._

As she walked out of her room to make herself some coffee, her phone vibrated twice, and she frowned when she saw that it was a text message from Beca. She lazily sat down on one of their couches in their open-plan apartment, and read the text message.

'Hi. Can Jesse join us tonight too? I owe him free beers and since its ladies night it will be cheaper to buy him a couple out of my pocket. Lol.'

Chloe rolled her eyes. _So she is cheap as well. _

'I judge you for being cheap, Beca.' Chloe replied, and she smirked as she imagined Beca rolling her eyes at her text message.

Chloe felt excited when she heard her phone vibrate again. She read the reply text message quickly.

'Cheap? Ironic, coming from the best strip dancer at Barden.'

Chloe laughed. 'I am honoured that you think I am the best. ;-)'

'I am only calling you "the best" since I am afraid of how competitive you are.'

Chloe grinned._ She is such a dork. _

'Jesse can come, sure.' Chloe decided to answer Beca's first text message. _Even though I don't like him much. _Chloe finished the sentence in her head._ He has this obvious huge crush on Beca, either that, or they are have some sort of brotherly-sister bond – and that seems unlikely. _

'Thanks!'

Chloe smiled as she read the reply and heard Aubrey walk into their apartment. Aubrey went to sit on one of their other couches, looking exhausted. She gave Chloe a worried glance, obviously checking to see if Chloe was still angry with her, and she frowned when she saw Chloe grinning at her phone.

"Who texted you?" Aubrey asked, curiously.

Chloe glanced at Aubrey, and panicked a bit. Chloe couldn't tell Aubrey, because then they will have the whole 'you like Beca' conversation again.

"Nobody. I was looking at a funny picture on Facebook." Chloe lied, and hated herself for doing so.

Aubrey smiled kindly at her best friend. "You are a bad liar, Chloe, even to those who _don't_ know you."

"It was Beca." Chloe quietly answered. She dropped her head in her hands, feeling ashamed for lying to Aubrey.

Aubrey stood up and walked towards Chloe. She gave the redhead a small hug.

"Does this mean that…?" Aubrey began to ask.

"I don't know. Let's just drink coffee and talk about other things, please." Chloe sadly interrupted.

"Okay." Aubrey unsurely answered, and figured that Chloe would speak to her eventually if she wanted to. She always did.

Aubrey walked to the kettle and took out two mugs. She started to make coffee for them. "You know Professor Johnson, right?" Aubrey spoke, changing the subject while getting milk from their fridge.

"Yeah?" Chloe answered, grateful to have Aubrey there.

"She is the _biggest_ bitch on this planet. She refused to change the dates of our first scheduled semester test, even when I gave her a letter from the dean who, by the way, agreed with me about her lack of planning and pathetic…" Aubrey kept on talking, as Chloe absentmindedly listened while struggling to make sense of her internal emotional turmoil.


	5. Chapter 5

Beca was busy mixing music in her room. She was already dressed to impress (Chloe) for the Bella's night out and she waited for Jesse to arrive. She hoped Jesse will be fine with the fact that it would be a Bella celebration. She never bothered to tell him the stupid and irrelevant details when she invited him out and she figured he wouldn't care anyway.

Beca looked up from her computer screen when she heard a knock on the door. Sometimes students knocked on the doors of dorm rooms when they walked passed it, just for the sake of it, so Beca waited for a second knock. Instead she heard Jesse speaking to her.

"Beca! It's meeee, Jessica."

It was Jesse.

_He was probably referring to a random line from a movie again._

Beca got up and opened the door. Jesse stood there waiting, smiling.

"Hi." Beca greeted.

"Hi!" Jesse greeted warmly. "Did you get the movie reference? It's from _The_ _Hot Chick_."

"The answer is no. Like always." Beca calmly responded, as if talking to a 5 year old. "You look horrible." Beca dryly observed, as she went back to her desk where her computer stood, leaving the door open for Jesse.

"I know. I can't wait to go out tonight, I need it." Jesse fell on Beca's bed, he looked tired. "I studied like a maniac today and had so much to do at the radio station this morning, _alone_, since you and Luke were busy having fun at the car-wash."

"Aubrey will also be at Bingo's tonight, so maybe she can make you feel better?" Beca smirked as she saw Jesse look up at her surprised.

"How do you know Aubrey will be there?" Jesse asked, trying hard not to look excited.

"Tonight is sort of a Bella celebration. We raised a lot of money at the car-wash." Beca explained.

"Oh, okay." Jesse replied, nonchalantly.

"Come on, Jesse, don't even pretend you two did not have a moment at the Bella rehearsal Thursday. It was _disgusting_, mister!" Beca laughed when she saw Jesse blush.

"Was it so obvious?"

Beca lifted her eyebrows as an answer.

"God, Beca, I can't get her out of my head. She is just, so, _in control_, you know. And she is attractive! And she has this sort of sassy professor Snape thing about her." Jesse spluttered.

"Aubrey is like a _sassy_ professor Snape? No wonder you're still single."

"I probably should have used a better comparison." Jesse acknowledged, smiling thoughtfully.

"Yes, since her hair is not super oily. But, I get it, I do." Beca spoke, jokingly.

"Yeah?" Jesse asked, his tone of voice sounded hopeful.

"Aubrey is totally Slytherin. She is so cold she probably spits ice cubes. What's not to love?" Beca grinned.

"And I'm Gryffindor. And warm. And I spit fire. We can complete each other."

"No, you are Hufflepuff. Even could be a squib. Or Aunt Petunia. She wanted a letter to join Hogwarts but never got one."

"You are evil!"

Beca laughed. "Honestly, how are you _not_ gay?"

"I don't know, I just like women, I guess. _Mean_ women."

"_Mean_ women? _Really_?" Beca smiled, she enjoyed mocking Jesse.

"I liked you too, remember? Maybe because you are also mean, like Aubrey."

Beca rolled her eyes. "I am not mean, I am sarcastic. Big difference."

"Sure, you crushed my dreams of having a cappella babies with you when you told me that you are gay." Jesse accusingly joked. "And ever since we started hanging out, you have had more one-night stands with girls than me. It's depressing."

"You can have a cappella babies with Aubrey now." Beca comforted jokingly, faking a disgusted-face. "And I can't help it that girls like me more than they like you." She smirked when she thought of Jesse's lack of charisma with girls.

"Ouch." Jesse answered. "Do you also have a crush on a girl I need to know of?" He curiously asked.

"Uhm." Beca was caught off-guard. Suddenly Chloe's face flashed before her eyes. Beca felt frustrated as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ears.

_Why am I thinking of Chloe?_

"_Who_?" Jesse asked, correctly reading Beca's apprehension as a sign that she was hiding something.

"Nobody." Beca answered, avoiding Jesse's gaze.

"Who?!" Jesse threw a pillow at Beca.

"Well, okay, _maybe_ someone. But, I don't even know if she is gay. And even if she is, it would be very complicated." Beca answered truthfully. "I am not even _considering_ it."

Beca was a little surprised with her answer as well. Hang on, _does that mean I like her now? _

"Mysterious answer, Beca. I will get to the bottom of this." Jesse announced with mocked earnest.

Beca shrugged, and she heard few knocks on her door.

"That must be Chloe, we will be driving with her tonight." Beca muttered to Jesse. He gave Beca a confused look, the last time he checked they hated each other. Now Chloe, Beca's soon-to-be stepsister and one of the most popular girls at Barden, was giving _them_ a ride to Bingo's?

Beca opened the door, and for the second time that day Chloe's appearance left her speechless. Chloe was wearing a tight, green cocktail dress. Her hair hung loosely in curls on her shoulders, and her make-up complimented her blue eyes, making it if possible, appear bluer than ever.

Chloe was searching for something in her handbag, and did not pay attention to Beca opening the door, so she luckily did not see Beca checking her out again.

"Hi." Beca greeted, wondering why Chloe looked so distracted.

"Hi." Chloe greeted. Her eyes flickered quickly over Beca's body, but she said nothing. Beca felt a bit disappointed.

_Why do I want her to compliment the way I look anyway?_

"Hi Chloe." Jesse greeted, standing at the door now too.

"Hi." Chloe greeted back awkwardly, before returning her attention to Beca. "I know it is your trademark to be late, but_ I_ like to be on time, so let's go."

Beca glared at Chloe.

"Aubrey is waiting for us in the car." Chloe explained a second later. She turned to walk to her car without waiting for Jesse and Beca.

"Did you hear that, Jesse? She is _waiting._" Beca laughed at him.

Jesse gave Beca an embarrassed smile and nervously brushed with his hands over his wrinkled his t-shirt, attempting to make himself look more presentable.

Beca laughed knowingly at him. Chloe folded her arms when she heard them laugh at their stifled private jokes.

Chloe was not in the mood to go out. She had a horrible day making sense of her feelings towards the dj, and now that she was in Beca's presence again she felt confused and irritated, yet thrilled and happy at the same time. How was it possible that Beca could make her feel so many different emotions simultaneously?

_Has it always been that way? Am I only noticing it now?_

They walked in silence towards Chloe's car, and the atmosphere was a bit tense. Her eyes kept glancing towards Beca, and she had to admit that the brunette looked very sexy in her skinny jeans and Nirvana t-shirt.

"Hurry up, guys!" Aubrey shouted impatiently through the front seat window of Chloe's car.

"Snape is getting angry, Jesse." Beca joked, and Jesse laughed.

Beca always made jokes when she was nervous, and Chloe made her feel weirdly nervous tonight. She was aware that Chloe was not her usual talkative self. At other times they would have been arguing over something stupid by now, but now Chloe ignored her.

Beca left out a sigh of frustration as she and Jesse scooted into the backseat of Chloe's car.

"Hey guys." Aubrey greeted.

"Hi." Beca greeted, feeling pissed, not knowing exactly why.

"Hi Aubrey." Jesse greeted, politely.

"Hi." Aubrey greeted, looking very distracted, typing a text message furiously on her phone. Chloe started the engine and they drove for a while in silence towards Bingo's.

You're Jesse, right?" Aubrey spoke up, and glanced backwards towards Jesse. Beca sensed she only spoke to create a conversation since the atmosphere in the car was painfully silent.

"Yes. I'm the Treble that interrupted the Bella's rehearsal. Again, sorry about that." Jesse answered.

"It's fine. And you did not really interrupt anything." Aubrey warmly assured Jesse. Beca let out a small cough. Aubrey acting all cool about a Treble not doing something wrong was comical.

"Yeah, don't feel bad Jesse, after all, it was Beca's fault to begin with. Not yours." Chloe murmured, as she took a turn.

"What?" Beca breathed incredulously at Chloe's remark. "I can't help that I had to work extra hours!"

"Okay guys! Stop! No fighting." Aubrey turned around in her seat and gave Beca a warning look.

"She started it!" Beca exclaimed to Aubrey, wondering why the blond always had to signal her out.

"Wow, you really fight like true sisters." Jesse joked, causing Chloe to tighten her hands on the staring wheel. Her eyes flashed wildly with anger. Beca punched Jesse hard on his leg, hating him.

"What? It was a joke!" Jesse defended himself. Aubrey let out a long defeated sigh.

"Let's just listen to the radio or something." Chloe suggested sideways to Aubrey, sounding very annoyed.

Aubrey turned the radio on, pleased to do something that could draw attention away from the tense atmosphere in the car. The optimistic voice of Luke, the dj on duty that night at Barden FM, soon filled the car.

"…_for staying tuned tonight. Next on our playlist is Titanium, by David Guetta featuring Sia. Enjoy guys!"_

Titanium started to play. Beca and Chloe both groaned loudly.

"I love this song!" Jesse exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood, still feeling bad for making that stupid joke earlier.

Chloe turned the radio off abruptly.

"Wha..? Why?" Jesse dumbly asked. Aubrey also looked at Chloe curiously, not knowing what was going on.

"Titanium is your favourite song, Chloe, you _always_ listen to it?" Aubrey questioned Chloe sounding confused.

"Drop it, guys!" Beca snapped.

"I really need a drink." Jesse said, to nobody in particular.

"Ditto." Aubrey responded dryly.

They drove in silence to Bingo's following that. As soon as Chloe parked, Beca jumped out of the car. Jesse followed Beca quickly after weakly thanking Chloe for the ride, who just ignored him.

"Beca, you have some serious explaining to do. What happened in that car?" Jesse asked, trying hard to keep up with Beca who walked at a very fast pace towards the entrance of the club. He was confused. He knew Beca and Chloe hated each other, but he sensed there was something more behind it.

"I don't want to talk about it, let's just go get drunk." Beca responded.

Jesse shrugged. "Fine, but the tension in the car was horrible. I think we should take a taxi home later, I am not driving with Chloe and you in the same car ever again."

x

Beca was waiting at the bar, waiting for a bartender to tend to them. She saw out of the corner of her eye that Chloe and Aubrey were in the club now as well, talking and greeting a random group of guys at a table. Chloe laughed loudly at something a muscular guy in a football shirt said, and she patted him playfully on his shoulder when she replied to him, chuckling.

"Ah, Beca. Look at that. Aubrey is talking to the seniors. How can I compete with _them_?" Jesse asked sadly, who also saw Chloe and Aubrey talk to the random group of guys. Their night started out horrible.

Beca turned and glanced at them again and felt upset when she saw Tom now standing with his arms around Chloe. They listened to whatever Aubrey told them, and they laughed hysterically.

_A moment ago you were angry, and now you laugh? Along with Tom, the asshole. What the fuck?_

Chloe glanced over to Beca, sensing that the dj was watching her. They looked at each other fleetingly. Chloe broke the moment by sweetly winking at Beca.

"Bitch." Beca softly cursed the redhead, turning her full attention to the very busy bartenders before her again.

"Two beers, and six tequila's." Beca ordered when the bartender finally asked her what she wanted.

"Tequila? You must really be pissed." Jesse laughed.

"Yeah, a beer and three tequila's for the two of us will start the night off well."

"No need to buy me anything more after this." Jesse also drank his shots and pulled a face. "I feel _drunk_ already."

"I feel _better_ already." Beca smirked. "Let's go dance, I can spot the other Bella's on the dance floor."

"Jesse!" Leonard, another Treble, walked over to them. "Let me go introduce you to a few a capella god's from out of state, we are sitting at that table there. Leonard pointed to a table. "Nice to see you here, dude!" He added, while shaking Jesse's hand.

"Uhm, sure, can Beca come?"

"You're a Bella right?" Leonard asked and Beca nodded. "Then no."

"Jesse, it's fine." Beca assured Jesse. "We can catch up later and I'm sure you don't want to dance the night away with the Barden Bella's." Beca smirked at Jesse.

"Okay, I will see you around and we _will_ catch up later! Jesse responded, loudly over the music, as Leonard dragged him to the table where the 'a cappella gods' were sitting.

Beca made her way through the dancers on the dance floor towards the Bella's.

Cynthia Rose was chatting to two girls, who Beca remembers from one of her classes at Barden, and Fat Amy, Jessica and Lily were dancing a piece of their Bella's routine, laughing. Stacy was holding a tray full of shots she probably just bought at the bar, and when the Bella's saw Beca they greeted her excitedly, giving her a few shots from Stacy's tray, probably thinking she just got there and that she hasn't had her fair share of alcohol to drink yet.

They danced as if nobody was watching. Fat Amy and Stacy bought them all rounds of shots, she has lost count of how many, and Beca was having fun. Beca was quite drunk, and was surprised when she later saw that Chloe was dancing next to her and that Aubrey was dancing next to Lily. _When did they join the group?_ She glanced over at Chloe, who looked effortlessly hot.

Beca would have been happy watching Chloe dance for a while longer, but since Tom was dancing behind Chloe, Beca diverted her gaze elsewhere. When she heard Chloe giggle at something he mumbled in her ear, she groaned loudly.

_Why should I dance next to the two people I detest the most in this world? Just my luck._

Chloe dragged Tom into the middle of the Bella's group and stated to grind into him. Beca saw Tom, who was smiling gleefully, move his hands towards Chloe's hips. They both moved in time with the music playing, never missing one beat. She pulled him closer on the hem of his jeans, and Chloe's hand started to trail patterns on his back in a teasing manner. She whispered something playfully in his ear. He whispered something back, causing her to laugh and to wink cheekily at Tom.

Beca watched them dance with a horror-stricken face. Jealousy was fuming inside every inch of her body and she wanted _so much_ to punch Tom in the face. She hated seeing Chloe dance with Tom, in a very similar fashion, in which they danced earlier that day at the car-wash._  
_

_To Chloe it is just all a game. I was so stupid to ever think that I might have liked her._

"I am going outside!" Beca screamed at Fat Amy, who has been watching the poor brunette react to Chloe's flirtatious dancing closely.

"Sure, short stuff. When you come back we will get you _really_ drunk!" Fat Amy smiled at Beca.

Beca walked away from the group, closely watched by Chloe.

Chloe mouthed to Tom that she wanted to go to the bathroom, and she walked off following Beca. Tom looked disappointed but smiled when one of his friends high fived him for 'getting it on' with Chloe on the dance floor.

x

Beca was standing outside the club, and she felt furious with the whole world. She hated Chloe so much right now. And to make it worse, Beca felt hot tears building up in her eyes. _Don't cry, damn it._ Beca scolded herself, but it was too late. She felt hot tears running down her face, and embarrassed she closed her eyes. The day so far has left her exhausted, mentally and physically.

Beca always kept her feelings hidden, and it was relatively easy to do normally, but her feelings for Chloe were something that frustrated and confused her in every level possible. It all proven too much to digest, and the amount of alcohol she had so far did not assist in helping her deal with it at all.

"Beca?" Chloe found Beca standing outside.

_Chloe must have followed me out. Shit._

"_What_?" Beca snapped at Chloe, still with her eyes closed, trying to sound as if she wasn't crying. She turned her back on Chloe, but it was too late.

Chloe saw Beca quickly wiping her face with her hands, trying to wipe her tears away.

"Beca?" Chloe weakly spoke. It was agony to see Beca crying. "Are you crying?"

"No, I'm laughing. Ha ha." Beca sarcastically replied.

Chloe determinedly took a step towards Beca, and lifted a hand to Beca's shoulder. She turned the dj towards her gently.

"Go away." Beca ordered. "I will be fine." Beca attempted a brave face, but was startled when she saw the amount of care in Chloe's eyes looking into hers. Beca wanted to break the eye contact, but she couldn't.

"Just go away." Beca ordered again.

"No."

Chloe grabbed Beca close to her and kissed her.

Beca did not have time to comprehend what was happening. She felt weightless and all her anger at the redhead disappeared instantly. Chloe's lips were soft against hers, and when Chloe trailed her tongue on Beca's lips, urging entrance, Beca parted her lips causing Chloe to immediately deepen the kiss, pulling and gripping Beca, if possible, closer to her.

Chloe wiped the tears of Beca's face without once breaking the kiss. They both moaned when they had to break for air for the briefest of seconds, and their lips crashed against each other's again, craving contact from each other. Beca lifted her hand to cup Chloe's cheek, causing the redhead to whimper silently, and Beca breathed in nervously when she felt Chloe's hand trailing underneath her t-shirt, exploring Beca's toned stomach.

"Beca?!" Jesse called, causing Beca and Chloe both opened their eyes. "Are you okay…? Oh!" Jesse looked shocked as Beca and Chloe broke apart. "Shit, sorry! I did not see you guys. Sorry!" Jesse closed his eyes with his hands.

"Jesse! What the _fuck_?!" Beca screamed at him. Chloe looked at Jesse angrily, still breathless from the kiss, her firm grip around Beca's body unchanged.

"Sorry! I'll go back inside. I thought you looked upset when you walked out of the club and I followed you, but I got distracted along the way and then I stumbled over a…"

"Fuck off, Jesse!" Beca screamed irritated, her body bouncing with every word uttered, causing Chloe to reluctantly loosen her grip around the brunette.

"Okay." Jesse weakly replied, and he ran into the club again.

Chloe and Beca looked at each other awkwardly. _What now_? Beca thought.

Chloe smiled and took Beca's hands in hers. Beca grinned at Chloe happily.

"I am happy we missed the dinner tonight with our parents." Chloe laughed. "Tonight seems totally worth it now, doesn't it?"

Chloe was not sure when last she felt so happy before. She played with Beca's hands in hers and she wanted to kiss Beca again, but the brunette now looked at Chloe with a confused expression.

Reality sunk in, and Beca's mind went into overdrive.

_Shit, have I just kissed my future stepsister? How drunk am I?_

Beca was panicking.

"Did I say something wrong?" Chloe asked, she searched in Beca's eyes desperately to see if she could read what the dj was thinking, but the dj's eyes were hazy and expressionless.

_This is a disaster. Yes, a massive fucking mistake. We had too much to drink and Chloe confused me with her dancing and fine, I like her, but what the hell will my father say? He did not take it well at all when I told him I was gay in high school, and now I am at a club kissing his future wife's daughter? What?!_

"Beca, what are you thinking?" Chloe worriedly asked. She grabbed Beca's hands into her own again, but Beca quickly drew her hands away from hers.

"No, Chloe."

"Beca, is it the whole 'stepsister thing' that bothers you?" Chloe asked, impatiently.

"Yes! How can it not bother you?" Beca incredulously asked.

"_So what_ if we will be stepsisters." Chloe simply answered. She wanted to remain calm, but was scared to death that Beca would turn her down just because of the whole stepsister problem.

"Newsflash, Chloe, we _will_ be stepsisters. What will your mother and my father say? I am sure they will be just _thrilled_ to hear that we get along better and that we even _kissed_ to seal the deal, but you can't deny how complicated it makes things." Beca retorted sarcastically.

"So we are just going to pretend the kiss never happened then?" Chloe asked, feeling very frustrated. She did not give damn what their families thought of them.

"Yes."

Chloe's eyes snapped to Beca's. "_What_?"

"I am sorry Chloe. This is just, urgh, well, _too_ complicated." Beca lifted her hands and shook her head. "I was confused, and emotionally drained, and we are both really drunk. I am sure we will wake up tomorrow thinking that we were both idiots tonight for kissing each other."

"The kiss meant _nothing_ to you then?"

_No, I felt weightless. It meant everything. _

"Yes." Beca answered with a dead-panned expression. "I cried and you felt sorry for me and then _you _kissed me." Beca hated herself for saying it, but she had no other choice.

Chloe looked absolutely livid. She was staring at Beca with her arms folded and her eyes shot daggers at Beca's.

"You kissed me _back_, you know." Chloe remarked. "And I must add, that I agree with you. I agree with _everything_."

"You do?" Beca asked, surprised. She felt her heart drop at Chloe's words.

"Yes. I was stupid for kissing you." Chloe answered. "It meant nothing. And since this discussion is going nowhere, I am going inside."

"Fine." Beca replied.

"And before I go – I forgot to tell you - we will be having dinner at your father's home at 7pm tomorrow night. Don't be late. I am not picking you up again, you can take the bus, _sis_." Chloe walked off into the club without once glancing back at Beca.

Beca was sure she heard Chloe suppress a sob when she entered the club. Beca lifted her hands to her head, feeling exasperated. She has never felt more confused in her life before.

x

x

x

**Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favourites! When I hear my email alert go off I scream like a crazy person! Whooo!**

**Thank you again, and have a nice weekend guys. :) **


	6. Chapter 6

"Beca! Wake up!" Kimmy-Jin woke Beca with her usual aloof voice.

Kimmy-Jin's voice is definitely not the first sound you want to hear if you wake up with a hangover, and Beca decided to keep her eyes tightly closed.

_Why would Kimmy-Jin wake me on a Saturday morning, who does that? She is probably pissed that I woke her up last night when I got back from Bingo's. I was really drunk so I must have made a lot of noise. _

Beca's head was pounding and her mouth felt as dry as the Sahara desert. The aftermath of last night's excessive drinking was probably one of the worst she has ever experienced. Silently Beca cursed Fat Amy and Stacie for buying her so many drinks last night.

_But I did drink it all furiously to forget about the kiss and about Chloe... Why the hell did she kiss me? But I guess I liked it... I actually loved the way she held onto me as if I was hers, as if nothing else mattered in the world at that moment. Hell, I feel lightheaded just thinking about it. Ah, shit. It's all coming back to me..._

"Beca!" Kimmy-Jin's voice sounded annoyed as she waited for a reaction from her roommate, but the dj was hiding her head underneath her pillows and stubbornly refused to make eye-contact with her.

Beca wondered how Chloe felt this morning.

_Is she furious with me?_ _Is she even thinking about the kiss? Did it really mean nothing to her?_

She did not see Chloe in Bingo's after they kissed, but then again, she was so drunk that she probably did not notice if Chloe was there or not.

Kimmy-Jin voice interrupted Beca's thoughts again, and she was relieved that she did. She did not want to think about the kiss or Chloe at all, it was all so messed up.

"…my friends are coming over in 30 minutes. We will be discussing the 'importance of biostatistics when analysing fungal growth'. If you want to listen to intelligent conversation, stay. If not, go."

_A simple "fuck off" will suffice, thank you... Who wants to listen to conversations about fungal growth? _Beca sarcastically thought.

"The whole room smells of fermented alcohol and second-hand smoke." Kimmy-Jin whined to nobody in particular, and Beca rolled her eyes. Her intolerant roommate clearly never got drunk before in a club.

"I'll be out in a second." Beca's raspy and sleepy voice finally spoke up.

"Good. I'm going to vacuum the carpet and curtains now." Kimmy-Jin announced.

"Then I'll be out _now_. I don't want to listen to Satan's call." Beca pointed at the big vacuum cleaner Kimmy-Jin's was busy getting out from underneath her bed.

Beca got up and walked sheepishly to her closet to get her shower bag and robe. Showers always helped to clear her thoughts, but unfortunately the dorm showers also reminded Beca of a naked Chloe singing Titanium with her…

Beca sighed and walked out of the room, leaving behind the torturing sounds of a determined Kimmy-Jin vacuuming the carpet in their room.

x

After Beca showered and got dressed for the Bella's rehearsal coming up later, she decided to walk around on campus.

Campus was eerily quiet on Saturdays and Beca liked it that way. She took a seat on a bench, overlooking an empty grass field that was normally filled with students. But, on Saturdays there were no weird drama students dancing around while thumping on native African drums, no jocks that threw footballs around, and nobody sitting on the grass while discussing projects, lectures, test marks or upcoming parties.

There were no people around and no noise - nothing interrupted the music blasting out of her earphones – except her thoughts that led back to Chloe, of course.

_I'm just grateful that Jesse interrupted us. Maybe I should call him to tell him that the kiss meant nothing. And I don't want him to tell anybody about it. If nobody knows, it would be a lot easier to forget, because nobody will remind me of it again. Just imagine if the Bella's know. If Aubrey knows. They will make our lives very hard with stupid jokes at rehearsals - and who knows how Aubrey would react?_

Beca immediately decided to call Jesse.

Beca searched for his number on her phone, and dialled.

"Beca! You woke me." Jesse's voice sounded sleepy.

"Sorry… How do you feel?"

"No too bad... How are you awake yet? You were drunker than me last night."

"Was I? I did not see you, you know, after, uh..." Beca did not know how to bring up the kiss without it sounded strange. She decided to focus on her roommate that woke her. "Kimmy-Jin woke me and later she used her vacuum cleaner." Beca explained shortly.

"Ah." Jesse knowingly answered, he knew all about Kimmy-Jin's vacuum cleaner. Beca complained a lot about it at the radio station.

"Jesse, about what happened last night with Chloe and me. You saw us kiss…" Beca quickly spoke. Her nervous voice sounded foreign to her.

"Oh my god, I remember! Gosh, I was so shocked, I had two drink two straight vodka shots to clear my mind after seeing that. I thought you guys hated each other?" Jesse asked, sounding very awake all of a sudden.

Beca shifted uncomfortably on the bench and decided not to say anything.

"Beca, are you still there?"

"Yeah." Beca replied quietly.

"Don't get all quiet on me now. Yesterday you and Chloe _groped_ each other in front of Bingo's. You looked pretty into it and Chloe held onto you as if you were some candy she _yearned_ to get a taste of or something."

Beca remained quiet again. Jesse's description of the kiss made all her anger disappear at Chloe and she thought of the kiss again. Just the memory of it made her face burn and she remembered the way Chloe dominated the kiss while she wiped the tears of her face...

"I feel bad for interrupting last night, sorry, because who knows where _that _kiss could have led to?" Jesse spoke jokingly, ignoring Beca's silence on the other end.

"Jesse. This is not me wanting a 'girl-talk' session. I don't want to talk about the kiss. I want to tell you that the kiss meant nothing to the both of us and that we kissed because we were both really drunk. I don't want you to tell anybody about it. The kiss was a major mistake."

"It's kind of hot though, you can't deny. The two future stepsisters kissing each other tenderly…"

"Jesse…" Beca warned, feeling helpless.

"I'm just being honest, Beca. The kiss did not look like nothing to me. Chloe is the mysterious girl you talked about last night, isn't she?"

"I… Just don't tell anybody. It will make it easier to forget it if nobody mentions it ever again."

"Beca, come on. You guys kissed in front of Bingo's. When I looked for you, just before I interrupted your kiss, I saw Stacie smoking with one of the bartenders outside. So she probably saw you guys kiss as well."

"_Shit._"

"Why is it so important for nobody to know about the kiss? You kiss girls _all_ the time, Beca, and you never call me to keep quiet about it. Not that I care so much to talk about your kissing or anything, but it never bothers you this much."

"The situation between Chloe and me, I don't know, is _delicate_. I wanted to be clear with you about what you saw. And I want you to keep quiet about it, naturally."

"So you don't want anybody to know? Even Aubrey?"

"_Especially_ Aubrey."

"Uh…" Jesse hesitated.

"Fuck Jesse, did you tell Aubrey we kissed?" Beca asked, feeling very pissed at Jesse.

"Aubrey came up to me in the club and asked me whether you and Chloe had a fight or not, because only you can make Chloe upset, according to Aubrey."

"And you told her after hearing that?"

"Look. Chloe left very early last night. I don't know the exact time. But anyway, Aubrey told me that Chloe was crying and that she went home to their apartment without even telling her why. She was worried, and she was very demanding, so I told her." Jesse patiently explained.

"Chloe cried?" Beca replied, feeling upset and confused. Imagining Chloe crying bothered her a lot.

"Yeah, she was apparently very upset."

Beca remained silent. _Maybe she was just upset with herself for kissing me. Did she regret it so much?_

"Go back to sleep, babe." Jesse silently spoke.

"What? Did you just call me _babe_?" If Beca wasn't feeling so depressed and hungover, she would have laughed.

"No!" Jesse answered, sounding uncomfortable. On the other line she heard a horrible sounding girl's voice, talking and giggling near Jesse.

"Jesse? Did you sleep with someone last night?" Beca smirked.

"Um." Jesse responded unsurely. On the other line Beca could hear the girl speak more clearly now, saying something about "dwarf" and "Bella's practice".

Beca knew immediately who Jesse slept with.

"You slept with _Aubrey_?!"

"Yes."

"That is disturbing!"

Beca waited for his reply, and when he did, he wasn't speaking her.

"No, Aubrey, baby…"

"I want to talk to Beca." Aubrey distant voice interrupted determinedly and Beca heard Jesse get up from his bed loudly. A lot of rustling and shuffling noises followed.

Beca looked at her phone curiously.

When Beca listened to the commotions again, she heard Jesse gasp in pain. Aubrey clearly removed Jesse's phone from his grasp and was about to speak to Beca, and she braced herself for Aubrey's onslaught.

"Beca." Aubrey's voice was breathless, but cunning.

"Aubrey." Beca replied with the same tone. _Who died and made her queen?_

"If you mess with Chloe I will destroy you, got that?" Aubrey icily warned.

"Chloe kissed _me_, maybe we need to get _that _much straight. And we agreed that it meant nothing." Beca replied calmly, but her anger at Chloe swelled inside of her again. _This is her fault._

"I will be watching you like a falcon, Beca. If you make Chloe cry again I will rip your…"

"Beca?" Jesse removed the phone from Aubrey's hand and Beca could hear the fading last sounds of Aubrey completing her sentence somewhere in Jesse's room.

"Jesse, you should have told me that I called at a bad time – or you could've warned me that Aubrey was there with you!"

"Next time I will." Jesse said. Beca could hear him grinning.

"There will be a _next_ time?" Beca replied, surprised.

"Oh yeah…" Jesse laughed.

"Is that a good thing?" Beca unsurely asked. She couldn't understand how anybody could sound so excited to spend more nights with Aubrey of all people.

"Yes! Got to go…!"

Jesse dropped his phone on the ground without properly hanging up, and she heard him say "No Aubrey, that tickles…" in a high voice Beca hopes she will never hear him use again, and she ended the call as quickly as she could.

_What the fuck did I just hear?_ Beca pulled a disgusted face, and she sighed when she realised that all the Bella's probably knew about the kiss.

_That's probably why Amy and Stacie bought her so many drinks the whole night... This makes things even more difficult. We are supposed to hate each other, not kiss each other. I wonder how Chloe deals with all of this? Is she even awake yet? Just imagine how freaking awkward the Bella's practice will be. Maybe I shouldn't go. But then I will look as if I'm avoiding Chloe. Which I totally want to do, but I don't want to look too affected by this. But I am affected by this... _

Beca kept arguing with herself and listlessly stood up from the bench.

x

Aubrey and Chloe were busy preparing for the upcoming Bella's rehearsal, and Chloe determinedly discussed everything but Beca or the kiss, even though Aubrey tried her best to discuss the topic every chance she got.

Chloe looked exhausted and Aubrey assumed she didn't sleep much, and after many failed attempts of mentioning Beca, she finally and grudgingly decided not to push the subject anymore.

"Hello skippers!" Fat Amy greeted them enthusiastically. She walked into the hall with her trademark confident stride, joined by Lily and Stacie. Stacie was wearing her sunglasses and Lily came to the rehearsal with exactly the same outfit that she wore the previous night.

When Stacie saw Chloe, she excitedly pointed to the redhead.

"Chloe! You naughty bitch! I saw you and Beca kissing in front of Bingo's last night. When I saw you guys kiss, I thought "finally"! The tension between the two of you was just waiting to explode. But I did not see you at Bingo's last night after that, where did you disappear to?"

Chloe was red in the face and looked extremely uncomfortable. Just before Aubrey could intervene, Chloe spoke up.

"I didn't really feel well, so I went home early. And I don't really know what you saw exactly, but it wasn't what it seemed…"

Stacie abruptly started to sing, interrupting Chloe while smiling knowingly at her.

"_I kissed a girl and I liked it, _

_hope my boyfriend don't mind it._

_ I kissed a girl and I liked it, _

_the taste of her cherry…"_

"Stacie!" Aubrey shouted loudly and Stacie stopped. Chloe avoided the eyes staring at her, and wished that she would stop blushing. She was felt extremely embarrassed by it - after all, Beca turned her down after they kissed. And she did like the kiss. A lot.

The kiss was unlike anything she has experienced before, and therefore she was, along with all the other emotions she felt, angry. She was angry that Beca turned her down so harshly and quickly after they kissed_. _

_Nobody has ever turned me down before_. _Who does she think she is? She didn't even consider trying to get over the whole 'stepsister-thing'. But whatever. I'm over her._

"I don't think now is the time for this." Lily silently added to Stacie, who watched them confusedly.

"Yeah, bad timing girlfriend." Amy spoke Stacie, and she smiled awkwardly and apologetically at Chloe.

"It's funny! I had a one-night stand with Dan, the bartender, and you guys teased me in the car when we drove here…" Stacie defended, but Amy interrupted her.

"_Very_ different situation, Stacie." Amy mumbled, so Stacie just lifter her shoulders and shrugged.

"Whatever." Stacie mumbled, clearly a bit hurt that her fellow Bella's did not see the funny side of the situation like she did, and she instead focussed her attention on some of the other Bella's walking into the hall now as well.

"No more jokes after that one, pinky-promise Flames." Amy assured Chloe with both her pinkies upright.

But Chloe did not pay much attention to Amy. She was watching Beca walking into the hall.

Beca appeared very weary and worn-out. Chloe didn't seem to care about Beca's messy state though, because she was staring furiously at Beca.

Beca returned Chloe's furious gaze without hesitance.

Amy and Aubrey gave each other worried glances. If looks could kill, they would both be dead by now. The kiss clearly made them hate each other more than ever. Aubrey decided to begin the rehearsal, and was relieved when Chloe and Beca broke their furious staring contest.

"Good afternoon, Bella's. I see you all look very hungover. I wonder if we will ever rehearse one day without anyone having a hangover for once." Aubrey began, but she too looked a bit more weary and untidy than always.

"We will begin with cardio, as promised. We will start by jogging around the hall once, and then we will stretch. Remember to drink a lot of water to counter the dehydration symptoms you may be experiencing now." Aubrey spoke. "Come on guys."

They all stood up and jogged behind Aubrey before stretching and started the other exercises, and after a long while of completing it all without complaining, Amy began to speak up. The cardio session proofed to be the toughest they have ever gone through.

"Just another two laps to go and then we can rest!" Aubrey screamed cheerfully, and she even picked up the pace. The Bella's jogging behind her groaned loudly. Aubrey was the only one out of all the Bella's that was in a very good mood at rehearsal. Beca knew it had everything to do with her one-night stand with Jesse and despite feeling very tired, she lightly smirked while jogging lazily behind Cynthia Rose.

"Aubrey. I'm tired. Make it stop." Fat Amy stopped with her horizontal running and sat up straight.

"I'm stopping." Chloe flatly announced and the other Bella's looked at her with stunned expressions. She was never the one to give up - she always encouraged them whenever Aubrey was too tough on them.

"Chloe?" Aubrey asked concerned, while she continued to jog.

"I'm tired, Bree. I know you said cardio would be a bitch, but this is just too much for me today." Chloe responded. Beca looked at Chloe curiously and noticed that she was yet to break a sweat, but she had to admit that Chloe looked exhausted. There were dark circles underneath her eyes and she walked off towards her water bottle deep in thought.

When the Bella's finally completed their tough cardio session, they all tiredly went to lie on the floor beside Fat Amy. Aubrey decided to confront Chloe that were standing in the corner with her back turned to them.

"Chloe, Beca is not worth it." Aubrey whispered to make sure none of the others heard her.

"I know, Aubrey." Chloe replied.

"We haven't spoken at all since last night, Chlo." Aubrey replied. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Chloe remained silent.

"Can I tell you something else then?" Aubrey asked concerned, dealing with a quiet Chloe was extremely difficult. Aubrey missed her usual open and talkative best friend a lot.

"Sure." Chloe sighed, after a short while.

"I've been _burning_ to tell you."

Chloe raised her eyebrows expectantly.

"I spend the night with Jesse." Aubrey excitedly whispered and proudly nodded her head.

"_What_?!" Chloe responded, looking astounded.

"I know you do not like him much, but ever since he arrived at the Bella practice on Thursday I kept thinking about him all the time."

"But _that _doesn't make sense Aubrey. He likes _Beca_. It is obvious."

"No, he doesn't. Beca is gay. _Hello_?" Aubrey replied impatiently. She would think Chloe would at least know _that_ much considering her huge toner for the dj and all.

"I just wasn't sure…" Chloe replied, very interested in their conversation now.

"Yes. And what I assume of what Jesse told me about her - and I read between the lines - is that she is quite a womanizer here at Barden. So be careful, Chloe."

"There is _no_ need to warn me about her, Bree."

But hope flickered in Chloe's eyes and it did not go unnoticed by Aubrey. She felt worried. She wanted to warn Chloe about Beca, not encourage her to pursue her.

Chloe felt a bit happier after her conversation with Aubrey. She approached the Bella's who were still all sitting tiredly on the floor. Beca laid flat on her back with her eyes closed, and with much difficulty Chloe forced herself to look away from the sight.

"Let's begin with our dance routine, guys. There are a few basics that we still struggle with, but we will sort it out quickly today." Chloe spoke to them kindly. She wanted so much to look at Beca, and knew instinctively that Beca watched her during the whole practice so far, but she didn't trust herself to do that. She wanted to remain angry at her and Beca's dark blue eyes made it hard for her to focus on her fury.

They all started to do the routine and Chloe helped wherever she could. She avoided Beca, but kept stealing glances at her while she danced. _I just wish she wasn't so freaking hot._ She dreaded going to the dinner later that night, thinking it will be torture to spend a night so close to Beca...

**x**

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**I will try to upload the next chapter this week. Till then, Pitches. ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

Beca walked towards the front door of her father's house. Chloe's car was already parked in the driveway.

_I think it's safe to assume that the Red Dragon is here._ Beca thought bitterly, and she exhaled a nervous breath. _This is going to suck. _

Beca rang the bell twice and heard a dog bark inside the house. His paws were tapping lightly on the wooden floors as he made his way towards the front door. He barked and scratched eagerly on the front door, clearly wanting very much to go outside to meet the guest.

_Interesting._ Beca thought. _I thought my dad hated dogs_.

She recalled with a small smirk how devastated her father was when her Aunt Maggie's dog took a big shit on the carpet and pissed on the wooden floors in his house. He never invited her over again after that. _But, that was a long time ago, maybe he grew to like dogs now?_

"Pluto!" Chloe's voice called the dog, and Beca felt nervous when she heard Chloe approach the front door to open up for her.

"Pluto, stay! Stay! Sit." There was a slight pause and she heard the dog, or Pluto, sit with a lazy thump on the floor. "Good boy!"

Chloe opened the door and just as she opened her mouth to say something, Pluto made his way to Beca and jumped on her happily. Beca luckily kept her footing, the dog was quite big and heavy, and she started to pat him lovingly. He was cuter beyond words.

"_Who's_ a pretty boy? _Who's_ a pretty boy?" Beca cooed in a baby-like tone. "_You_ are a pretty dog. Yes, _you_. Yes_, you _are. Ah_, you_ are such a big strong puppy! You are a big…"

Chloe watched Beca pet Pluto with an amused expression.

"So you really like dogs, huh?" Chloe dryly observed after a while, standing comfortably against the frame of the door with her arms folded.

"Yeah…" Beca replied, embarrassed, and she awkwardly patted Pluto on his forehead. "His name is Pluto?" Beca asked just to say something.

"Yes."

Chloe and Beca stood there for a while, and Beca felt uncomfortable under Chloe's silent gaze. They haven't spoken at all since they kissed last night, and she felt more nervous than ever.

"Uh… Can we come in please?" Beca asked sarcastically, and pointed to Pluto sitting happily beside her on the porch now, and Chloe regained herself.

"Oh! Sure." Chloe nodded, and stepped aside so that Beca and Pluto could walk into the house. Pluto jogged towards a big red cushion lying before the stairs, and started to chew on a bone-shaped toy enthusiastically.

"We are drinking wine on the patio outside." Chloe informed Beca while closing the door.

"Okay." Beca replied, unsure of what to say.

Together they walked through the house to the glass sliding doors that led to the backyard.

Beca was conscious of their closeness. The only sound she could hear was the "tick-tock" sound of a clock that stood in the hallway. Beca decided to fold her arms while she walked next to Chloe, afraid of maybe touching Chloe's hands that had been inches away from hers. Chloe's perfume made her stomach feel weirdly empty and she was aware of her light breathing next to her as they walked.

When they finally arrived at the sliding doors that led to the backyard, Chloe reached to the handle of the door to open it. She pulled with force, but the door didn't slide open. Chloe pulled again but the door remained stuck.

"Great." Chloe said, irritated.

"Let me…" Bece offered.

"No. I've got this." Chloe answered determined, red in the face from pulling. She released her grip on the handle for a second, giving Beca the opportunity to try and slide the door open. Beca gripped the handle of the door with both her hands and pulled hard. Nothing happened.

"Fucking door…" Beca sighed irritated, and Chloe and Beca simultaneously gripped the handle and pulled. The door finally slid open, and Chloe and Beca looked at each other with satisfied expressions.

"Yeah, we did it!" Chloe said with mocked awe, and Beca smiled. They locked eyes for a moment and looked down at their hands which were still strangled together on the handle. They stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, neither having the desire to remove their hands or to break eye-contact. Beca could have sworn that Chloe looked down towards her lips for the briefest of seconds.

"Chloe? Beca? What is taking you guys so long?' Sheila screamed from the patio, her tone was kind and she sounded very excited.

"We're coming mom!" Chloe answered loudly, and she abruptly removed her grip from underneath Beca's hands. "Come on." Chloe spoke, she gave Beca an annoyed glance but Beca saw her exhaling a big breath before she walked outside, as if to calm herself.

Beca also exhaled deeply so that she could snap back to reality and she followed Chloe a few seconds later to the patio. Her father and Sheila were sitting on comfortable couches overlooking the swimming pool.

"Hi Beca!" Sheila greeted enthusiastically.

"Hi Sheila." Beca greeted. She looked at her father standing up from the couch and he walked towards her.

"Beca-bear!" He greeted happily. He gave Beca a big hug and Beca returned it half-heartedly. _We never hug. Why is he hugging me now?_

"_Beca-bear_?" Chloe asked, smirking at Beca.

Beca glared at her furiously.

"My dad calls me that…"

"Yes, it's my nickname for Beca. She was a bit plump when she was a baby, and she looked like a fat little teddy-bear. So I call her Beca-bear. Now of course, she has the temperament of a bear being disturbed while hibernating, but when she was a baby…"

"Dad!" Beca interrupted her father and shot daggers at Chloe, she was listening attentively with a grin on her face.

"Sorry Beca. I guess will speak of more interesting topics from now on."

"No, please continue Shane. It's _very_ interesting to hear about a baby-Beca." Chloe answered sweetly, she winked at Beca.

"Chloe, don't make me start with your baby stories." Sheila lectured Chloe laughingly. "Rather tell me how the Bella's get-together was last night?" Sheila asked.

Beca and Chloe quickly glanced at each other.

_Oh, I don't know. I was pissed at your daughter and then I cried, then she kissed me and fucked up my life. B_eca thought, but luckily Chloe answered.

"It was actually a lot fun, mom."

Beca raised an eyebrow at her, but Chloe busied herself with a bottle of wine, and poured herself a glass.

"Well you two look very tired." Sheila observed with a smile. "So I guess it must have been a lot of fun."

"And I'm happy you joined the Bella's, Beca." Shane remarked.

"Yes, it's actually not so bad. I thought it would be horrible. It is okay-ish." Beca answered.

"Okay-ish? It's awesome." Chloe corrected Beca.

"_Awesome_ is not really a word I'd choose. A cappella is _enjoyable_, but _aswesome_? No."

"Aca-scuse me? Seeing that you smile like a happy idiot while you sing the set and dance the routine, I would say that you also think it's _awesome_." Chloe angrily replied.

"Chloe!" Sheila warned her daughter. "It is important for Shane and I that you guys get along. Don't make me force you guys to hug it out."

Chloe and Beca glared at each other.

"I think, yes." Sheila got up from the couch and smiled a mischievous smile, and it reminded Beca of Chloe instantly. "Give each other a nice, _tight_ hug."

"What? Mom, no." Chloe answered quickly.

"Shane, what do you think? Should they hug it out or not?" Sheila jokingly asked Shane, but he was distracted. Beca saw that he was emailing someone on his phone, looking quite angry.

"Shane, no business tonight. What could the university possibly want from you now?" Sheila asked, impatiently.

"Nothing dear." Shane sighed. "I'm just quickly going to make a call in my study. And I need to go buy more wine for dinner. I'll be back in a few minutes." Shane answered, and Sheila looked disappointed when he gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Don't be too long."

"I won't be." Shane greeted, and walked quickly towards the sliding door that led into the house.

"Where were we?" Sheila asked. The disappointment on her face gone, as she focused all her attention on Beca and Chloe cheerfully. "Did you forget the hug, guys? Don't let me make you."

Beca was nibbling on some of the snacks placed on the table. Chloe sat on one of the couches, sipping thoughtfully on her wine as she watched Beca chew hungrily on a meatball.

"Mom, it's stupid. We are so not going to hug." Chloe replied boredly, her eyes still on Beca.

Beca nodded, her mouth was too full of food to answer.

"You guys are really hurting my feelings. I just want you guys to get along. I just want you guys to be happy and to enjoy each other's company. But no. You fight. And it hurts me." Beca felt horrified when she saw Sheila sniffling on a tissue dramatically.

Beca looked at Chloe worriedly, who didn't seemed too fussed about her mother's outcries.

"Okay, Sheila, we will hug." Beca decided.

"Beca, my mom is…"

But Beca pulled Chloe up from the couch and hugged her. At first she cautiously patted Chloe on the back and Chloe started to rub Beca's back lovingly in response. She was acutely aware of Beca's light breathing on her shoulder, and she realised that she was smiling stupidly. She silently cursed herself for feeling so elated to be holding Beca again, and her thoughts trailed back to their kiss the previous night. She wanted so much just to kiss her again, now, but her mother was watching them.

_Just imagine how weird that will be._ Chloe thought grimly. And Beca made it clear that she wasn't interested in her. _And I don't even care. Beca would be lucky to have someone like me._

Sheila was smiling gleefully at the two of them. Her fake crying fit worked. _And just look at how lovingly they are hugging each other now. _Sheila thought happily.

"Wow guys! Now that's what I call a hug." Sheila observed, and Beca and Chloe broke the hug quickly. Beca was still holding onto Chloe's hand, and when Chloe gave her a smug look, Beca hurriedly let go of her hand.

"Wait, you were not upset?" Beca asked Sheila. She felt a bit stupid, but she did not regret hugging Chloe at all._  
_

"No. I just wanted you guys to hug." Sheila answered while she nodded. Her eyes sparkled with mischief.

"Don't worry. We will never hug again." Chloe spoke to Beca irritated.

"Good." Beca answered, feeling a bit hurt at Chloe's bluntness.

"Well, I think you need to hug more often - and it looked as if you both _enjoyed_ it." Sheila thought for a second. "_Really_ enjoyed it." She added, looking at both of them curiously. Finally she gave them a big, warm smile. Beca hoped the hug didn't give them away, even though there wasn't anything to give away. _Or was there?_

"And now you guys can come and help me in the kitchen. The food is basically done. I just need to add a few final touches to the dishes." Sheila spoke as she walked hurriedly to the kitchen, and Chloe and Beca followed her.

Beca watched Chloe as they walked inside the house again, and Chloe did not seem worried at all by her mother's reaction.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 - updated version. I deleted the previous chapter 8, so I am sorry if you are/were confused.**

"Chloe, can you chop the parsley for me please?" Sheila asked Chloe. Chloe got up from the kitchen table she and Beca were sitting at, and began to chop the parsley.

Sheila was stirring a dish with her back turned to Chloe and Beca and the kitchen was filled with delicious smells of the food Sheila had been cooking. Beca's stomach grumbled and she couldn't wait to eat, since she hadn't eaten much all day and the extensive Bella practice had awoken her appetite.

"So, do you guys have anybody special in your lives?" Sheila asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

"No. Thank god." Beca sighed, and Sheila laughed and looked at her daughter. "And you Chloe?"

"Actually, yes." Chloe answered, she stopped chopping and turned herself sideways to look at her mother and Beca.

"Who?" Sheila and Beca asked together, they both sounded quite surprised. Sheila smiled expectantly at Chloe, and Beca took a big swig of wine.

_Probably Tom. The asshole._

"His name is Tom." Chloe answered.

_Thought so._

"Tom Thompson."

"His surname is _Thompson_?" Beca asked sarcastically, almost choking on her wine.

"_Tom Thompson_?" Sheila asked Chloe and she giggled at her daughter. "Don't tell me he is just another brainless Barden athlete?"

Beca laughed, she loved Sheila so much more already.

Chloe watched Beca's reaction with an annoyed expression and felt irritated with her mother.

_Why should my mother be her normal, blunt self today?_

"Just because the two of you hate physical activities, doesn't mean you can laugh at people who do." Chloe responded angrily.

Sheila smiled. "The most guys you bring home are very shallow, you honestly can't deny that. _And_ they all just happen to be athletes as well. But I get your point, I mean, your father was an athlete but at least _he_ had a brain."

"Tom _has _a brain. He studies Business Management and will one day take over his father's company. And he is a great kisser, unlike _others_ I've kissed before." Chloe defended herself. She winked at Beca as soon as her mother turned her back to them to stir the simmering dish on the stove again.

Beca felt agahst. She loudly placed her glass of wine on the counter.

_I'm a great kisser! Chloe is just messing with me... I did cry last night when we kissed, so I wasn't exactly on my A-game, and Chloe dominated the kiss so much that I just really had to follow her lead. Next time I'll do better. Wait….There won't be a next time. Yes, fuck her life. She will never experience my A-game kiss._

"I agree, when the first kiss suck I never even bother to kiss them again. It just means there is no, uh, _chemistry_." Beca spoke. She felt satisfied with her response when she saw Chloe starting to chop the parsley murderously.

"If there is no chemistry, don't even bother pursuing that person." Sheila added dryly. She opened the oven to check on the chicken she was roasting and turned her back to Chloe and Beca, luckily too busy to notice the tension between Chloe and Beca.

"The _best_ kisses, in my opinion, occur only when you truly love someone. Kisses that make you feel overjoyed with the close intimacy shared, yet annoyingly too far away. It makes you want to get lost in the moment forever, never wanting to let go, not even for oxygen." Sheila ended her long explanation, and giggled at the dumbstruck expressions of Chloe and Beca.

"I know that you two girls will meet someone special that will make you feel like that someday." Sheila assured them, while thoughtfully taking a sip of wine. Beca and Chloe both dared a look at each other, and looked away quickly when they caught each others eyes.

"Please never speak like that again, mother." Chloe formally addressed Sheila with a grin.

"Don't call me _mother, _Chloe, you know I hate that." Sheila jokingly slapped Chloe with a dishing cloth, and Chloe giggled.

"My father makes you feel _all_ of that?" Beca asked with a smile, trying to lighten the mood as well.

"Sure." Sheila answered, again taking a thoughtful sip.

"Hey guys! I'm back with more wine…" Shane walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah, well, you missed out on some serious girl-talk, Shane." Sheila greeted Shane. "What was the problem you had to sort out?"

"It was nothing, really." Shane replied quietly while opening the bottles edgily.

"Well, it looked quite serious, dear." Sheila pressed the subject.

"It was nothing. God, can you drop it already?" Shane angrily responded, and Beca and Chloe gave each other awkward glances.

"I did not mean to pry, Shane, sorry." Sheila apologised, even though she looked taken aback by Shane's sudden harsh tone.

"Don't be sorry. Uh, I am just stressed out from work and some things haven't gone my way in the chemistry research I conducted this week." Shane quickly explained, and he looked furious.

"I'm sure it will work out." Sheila comforted, and she gave Shane a quick peck on his cheek. He impatiently received it and walked with the wine towards the dining room.

"He gets like that when he is stressed." Sheila annoyingly explained. "You two can go and join Shane in the dining room, I will join you shortly. I just need to put all this food on serving dishes quickly."

"Can we help you with that?" Beca asked. She felt ashamed about her father's behaviour._ I know he is an asshole, but it sucks when he is being a douche to Sheila. I thought he might have changed, obviously not._

"No, thanks Beca." Sheila responded kindly.

Chloe and Beca walked to the dining room, and Chloe concernedly spoke up.

"I have never seen your father so stressed before."

"I have." Beca responded dryly. _Countless of times._

"Well, I don't like it when he gets so moody." Chloe whispered, they were near the dining room and she didn't want Shane to hear.

"Tell me about it." Beca responded.

X

"So Beca." Shane spoke. He was sitting at the end of the table and Beca sat beside Chloe, furthest away from her father.

"Yes dad?"

"How is it going with your studies? Professor Smith told me you got a B on your philosophy test last week. "

"That is your business how?" Beca replied sharply.

"I saw him in the lecturer's cafeteria on campus. And I asked him how things were going with you in his class." Shane loosened his tie and sat back in his chair comfortably. "According to him you never contribute in class discussions and you sometimes don't even bother to attend his classes at all."

"I got a B on his paper. And I feel happy about it, I guess." Beca answered, deciding to ignore the other remarks her father made.

Chloe listened closely to their conversation and she felt uncomfortable. She kept glancing towards the kitchen, hoping for her mother to emerge any second. She never knew that Shane took such an intense interest in Beca's studies. He was acting really weird.

"I think you can do better." Shane bluntly replied, lifting a strict eyebrow at Beca. "You are my daughter and people expect great things from you academically."

"Considering I never even wanted go to Barden in the first place, I would say that I am not doing too bad. And I don't care what they expect of me, I don't even know them."

"Why didn't you want to go to Barden?" Chloe interrupted. This all was news to her.

"Uh, I wanted to…" Beca began to explain to Chloe, but her father interrupted her.

"She wanted to become a _dj_ in LA." Shane answered sarcastically. "She always had this 'dream' of making it big, becoming a famous musician with her music mixes. Her _mother_ unfortunately supported that crazy idea, but luckily I convinced Beca to go to Barden - to get an education - so that she could pursue a _real _career one day."

Chloe listened to Shane speak with a bitter taste in her mouth.

"I think it is cool to have dreams like that." Chloe spoke more to Beca than to Shane. Beca was lazily playing with a fork on the table, clearly very disinterested with the conversation.

"Come on, Chloe. You are excelling academically in PreMed. _You _honestly can't be serious to regard Beca's obscure dream of making it big in the music industry?" Shane laughed incredulously as he took a big sip of his wine. "Besides, Beca and I have an agreement." He gave Beca a cold stare and Beca rolled her eyes.

"I am serious, Shane. It is my dream to become a doctor, and I am following my dream. If it is Beca's dream to become a successful dj, then she should do it too." Chloe determinedly answered, becoming angrier by the second. She hated the way he spoke about Beca as if she was not even in the room. Shane was always kind and nice; she has never seen this side of him before.

"Chloe, it is fine. Just leave it." Beca intervened.

"I want to hear your mixes. Maybe we can use it for the Bella's set." Chloe suggested.

"Aubrey will never change the set."

Chloe gave Beca a disappointed look. "So you're not going to let me listen to it at least?"

"I'm sure we can find time. I mean, I don't really play it to anyone." Beca reconsidered, and Chloe smiled.

Shane barked a laugh. "That is sort of the point of a musician, though, isn't it? Why do you want to go all the way to LA to become a dj if you don't even play it to your friends at Barden?" Shane sneerily asked.

"You can play it to me. I can't wait, I'm sure I will love it." Chloe responded, ignoring Shane completely.

"Okay." Beca replied, giving her father a cold stare in the process. She felt relieved when she finally heard Sheila's footsteps on the wooden floors, making her way towards the dining room.

"Sorry I took so long guys!" Sheila finally she was balancing two big serving dishes in both her hands.

"Here we go guys, I hope it tastes as delicious as it smells." Sheila smiled excitedly. She placed the serving dishes on the table, and Shane smiled happily.

"This looks wonderful, honey." He complimented as he started to dish up food into his plate. Sheila refilled the wine glasses and watched Chloe and Beca, who both looked a bit upset.

"Why do you guys look so miserable? One would think that students would be more excited about a balanced home cooked meal. What do you guys live on there anyway?"

Beca smiled at Sheila. "Not on food like this. It all looks delicious. Thank you, Sheila."

"Yes, thanks mom." Chloe responded, still looking distracted.

"Aubrey luckily cooks, doesn't she Chloe?" Sheila spoke.

"Yes, she cooks a lot. Her classmates usually come and eat with us and then they speak about accounting until the early morning hours." Chloe responded. "I usually just eat with them and then I go and do my own thing. Accounting conversations is just too boring to be part of." Chloe explained and her mother grinned understandingly. Her daughter hated being bored.

"Aubrey, your roommate, she studies accounting huh?" Shane asked, before taking a big bite of food.

"Yes." Chloe answered coolly and her mother raised an eyebrow at Chloe.

"Is she by any chance the daughter of Henry Posen, the CEO of Accounting Agents? Henry mentioned to me that his daughter, I think Aubrey or it can be Annie, I'm not sure, studies accounting at Barden?" He asked.

"Yes, he is Aubrey's father." Chloe answered stiffly.

"Now _that_ is a man of virtue! He has been my accountant for more than 25 years. We met when we were students. He was an _excellent_ student. Aubrey must be an excellent student as well?" Shane responded excitedly.

"Yes, she is very driven." Chloe answered, again with a cold tone.

"See Beca, you can achieve a lot when you are driven academically." He mentioned to Beca.

"How is the wedding planning going, Sheila?" Beca asked. She wasn't so interested in the wedding, but she just wanted to steer the conversation into a different direction.

"It's going fine, thank you Beca." Sheila answered. "Chloe helped me a lot, but ever since Barden started this year she wasn't so interested to help with the planning anymore. I think the last time you even mentioned the wedding, Chloe, was the night before the activities fair took place?" Sheila mocked a hurt expression at her daughter.

"Yeah, I've been very busy mom." Chloe answered. She felt a bit guilty about not helping with the wedding, but her studies kept her busy. _And I met Beca. When I knew that she was going to be my stepsister, I was way less excited about the wedding and I didn't want anything to do with it_. "Is there anything I can do for you this week?" Chloe asked, despite her dreading thoughts.

"No, Angela and I have it all covered." Sheila answered. "Angela is my personal assistant." She quickly explained to Beca, who nodded.

"How is it going with you cases?" Chloe asked. "Were you in court yesterday?"

"No, we luckily settled." Sheila answered. "Our client didn't want to go to court, maybe because he knew he had a bad case." Sheila smiled and suddenly looked a bit tired after speaking about work.

"So you're a lawyer?" Beca asked. She didn't know anything about Sheila and she liked her a lot. Beca found it quite surprising that her father managed to get engaged to someone like her.

"Yes." Sheila answered.

"And a very good one, I may add." Shane spoke and he gave Sheila a loving glance.

"Ah, thank you honey." Sheila replied, dishing herself a helping of vegetables.

"Who are you guys going to invite as your wedding dates?" Shane asked. "The wedding is in one month, so I guess you guys already asked someone?"

"Uh, I think Lauren. She goes to the same classes I go to. I still need to ask her though." Beca answered.

"I've never heard of a Lauren before?" Chloe enquired curiously.

"She's a freshman." Beca explained, simply.

"Does she stay in the dorms too?" Chloe felt a twinge of jealousy arise in her stomach.

"Yeah, only a couple of rooms away from mine. I've borrowed coffee and milk there a lot of times. She is always awake early hours when I get back from the radio station." Beca explained matter-of-factually.

"She sounds… _hospitable_." Chloe replied through pursed lips.

"Yeah, Beca. This is ah, well. Maybe the opportunity... I don't know how to say it." Shane began, and he looked at Sheila for support. Everybody looked at Shane expectantly and Sheila beamed at him.

"We are all so happy to have you over for dinner! I'm so happy you invited her, Shane." Sheila spoke to Shane excitedly and beamed at Beca, who was now smiling awkwardly at them. Chloe grinned, she loved it when Beca acted so adorable when all the attention was focused on her.

"I can't wait for you guys to finally rebuild your relationship. Life is too short to dwell on little hangups." Sheila wisely spoke, and she stretched to take Shane and Beca's hands in her own.

"Yes." Shane replied, cleared his throat. "_That._ We are happy that you're here. And I am sure we will rebuild our father and daughter relationship, Beca."

"That will be good." Beca agreed, but internally she knew that it would take a hell of a lot to ever rebuild their relationship. They never had one to begin with, and Sheila was clearly pressuring her father to rectify the past.

"For us to achieve that, however, we need to make compromises." Shane spoke up in his trademark lectures tone of voice.

"And that will be?" Beca asked. "I already compromised by going to Barden."

"I compromised by getting you enrolled there. I had to pull a lot of strings, Beca."

"Fine. What will the other compromise be?" Beca impatiently asked. Sheila nodded to them in an encouragingly.

"Well, we need to speak about the whole 'wedding date' thing. Grandfather Joe will be there and he's very conservative. Not to mention Uncle Mitch…" Shane added thoughtfully. "I think it will be best if you take a _guy_ as your date to the wedding. Let's keep things c_onservative_ at the wedding."

There was a stunned silence at the table. Beca has never felt so humiliated in a long time.

Sheila finally broke the silence when she dropped her cutlery loudly on her plate. "Shane! Beca can take whoever she chooses! I _can't_ believe you right now!" Sheila replied with a furious expression, and she stood up from her chair.

Chloe gripped Beca's hand underneath the table, and gave it a comforting squeeze. Beca was too focused on Sheila and Shane fighting to respond to Chloe's gesture - old childhood memories of her mother and father fighting started to come back slowly. This whole night started to feel like a bad déjà vu experience.

"I'm fine with the sexuality Beca _chose_. Some people _aren't_ and I don't think we should throw homosexual behaviour in their faces at _our_ wedding." Shane replied simply.

"You _have _to be joking, Shane! If people are so limited to judge Beca for being gay, why the hell will they even be at our wedding? Why even _care _about family and friends who won't accept your _daughter _for who she is? I don't even want them at our wedding if that's the case."

"Let's speak about this later, honey." Shane calmly responded.

"Don't _honey _me."

"Beca, let's leave. I suddenly lost my appetite." Chloe spoke to Beca, who just nodded sadly.

"Don't leave guys, you are all overreacting." Shane defended himself.

"I'll call you mom." Chloe spoke to her mother, ignoring Shane.

"Thanks Sheila, for all your effort tonight." Beca's voice was shaky and her eyes were filled with tears, but this time she managed to control them. "This is…"

"This is your father's fault, yes." Sheila completed Beca's sentence and gave Shane a cold look.

"Sheila, I just wanted to warn her…" Shane angrily began to explain but ended his sentence when Sheila lifted her hand warningly, signalling him to stop talking. "Beca? You are not really offended, are you?" Shane asked Beca hopefully, clearly expecting her to help him out of this difficult situation he created.

"_Don't_ speak to her." Chloe flatly spoke to Shane.

Shane looked taken aback by Chloe's icy tone.

"We are out of here. Bye mom."

"Drive safely." Sheila quietly greeted. "Make sure Pluto doesn't run out with you guys when you open the front door."

"We will." Chloe quickly assured her mother while walking out of the dining room, she had her arm around Beca's shoulder and she marched them out of the house determinedly.

When Chloe and Beca got into Chloe's car, they heard Sheila and Shane arguing inside the house. They drove in silence for a while and Chloe kept glancing at Beca worriedly.

Beca stared out of the window of the car, feeling very miserable about causing Sheila and Shane to argue. She ruined the night.

"Don't even think that tonight was you fault." Chloe comforted Beca, reading her thoughts correctly.

"Yeah, well, if I wasn't gay they wouldn't be fighting now." Beca answered easily.

"No, Beca. If you're father wasn't a prick they wouldn't be arguing now. It has nothing to do with being gay. It has everything to do with your father being a shallow asshole." Chloe assured Beca.

"Thank you for getting me out of there." Beca thanked Chloe.

"It's nothing. I wanted to leave too." Chloe answered and she looked at Beca. Even in the dark Beca's beauty took her breath away. Nobody has ever had this effect on her before. "I now understand why you never visit him. He has no right to speak to you like that, Beca."

"Yeah, well, there is no need to pity me or anything. I'm sort of used to it." Beca responded silently.

"You should never get used to your father treating you like that. And the only one we should pity after tonight is your father. If a person is close-minded about love then I can assure you that they are close-minded about other spectacular things in life as well. People like that should be pitied." Chloe passionately spoke.

"Wow, thanks Dr. Phill." Beca jokingly replied, but she appreciated Chloe's words more than she could ever say.

Chloe smiled. "I mean it, Beca."

"I know." Beca glanced at Chloe who was focusing on the road before her.

Beca wished the road would take forever back to her dorms. She didn't want to be alone, but she also did not want to seek the company of other people. She wanted to be with Chloe who made everything so much more bearable tonight.

"So… Are you still hungry?" Beca asked Chloe.

"Not really."

"Oh." Beca felt disappointed. If they would go somewhere to eat at least they would spend more time together.

"Are you still hungry?" Chloe suddenly asked, realising her mistake.

"A bit." Beca lied. She had no appetite.

"We can go to a diner I know. They have great grilled cheese sandwiches." Chloe quickly suggested.

"Okay. But only if you want to?" Beca asked, unsurely.

"Yes." Chloe answered jokingly. "Tomorrow you might hate me again. Who knows?"

"Maybe I still hate you?" Beca answered, and laughed when Chloe lightly slapped her on her leg.

"I don't hate you." Beca answered finally.

"Good. " Chloe answered. "I don't hate you too."

x

x

x

x

**A bit of drama... :P **

**Beca's father is an asshole in this chapter, so the normal joking tone is more serious at the end of it. I hope that isn't such a bad thing... **

**Flies away! **)  
**


	9. Chapter 9

Beca looked around the diner and liked the way the place was decorated. The tables were all different sizes and none of the chairs matched, and the walls were covered with banners of bands and false versions of famous paintings were painted everywhere.

Beca was happy that there were so many things to look at. It created some much needed distraction from Chloe who was sitting across from her and who looked, like always, beautiful. She still looked tired, though, and the dark circles under her eyes Beca noticed at the Bella practice earlier that day were still there_. I hadn't even noticed it in my father's house, maybe because the lighting there is better?_ _Maybe because I was a bit nervous?_ _Who knows?_

This was first time she and Chloe actually chose to spend time with each other, and she suddenly felt very nervous.

_What if we will have nothing to talk about? What if we start talking about, god-forbid, the kiss? What if we argue again? If someone would have told me a week ago that I would be sitting in a diner with Chloe now, I would have laughed at them. So much has happened in four days._

"You are staring at me." Chloe spoke up, and smiled at Beca with raised eyebrows. She glimpsed at Beca's hands fidgeting nervously above the table, and fought the urge to grab Beca's hands to calm them.

"Sorry." Beca quickly glanced around the diner again, and Chloe smirked.

"Do you like the diner?" Chloe asked.

"Yes. It's awesome." Beca answered. "I never knew this place existed. It's beyond cool."

Chloe smiled, she silently felt impressed with herself for bringing Beca to a place she liked so much.

"I'm glad you like it." Chloe answered, feeling smug.

"This place would be a nightmare for anyone suffering from OCD, though..." Beca lightly joked.

"Yeah, that's why Aubrey never comes here – everything in here irritates her..."

"No wonder I like it so much, then. Who paints all the artsy stuff on the walls?"

"The owner of the diner gets art students from Barden to paint his favourite paintings on the walls, so the walls change almost every year."

"It's cool of him to involve the art students."

"Yeah… The self-portrait of Frida Kahlo is my favourite." Chloe pointed to the painting, not taking her eyes off Beca as she did. "It's the one painting in the diner that stays unchanged."

"That unibrow though…" Beca remarked. "Is that what made her famous? Was it like, fashion?"

"No, she is the most interesting artist to have ever existed in my opinion. She overcame a lot in her life and her paintings portrayed so many subjects nobody spoke about back then… She truly knew herself and was, or seemed, fearless."

"You know a lot about her?" Beca asked, impressed.

"I have a few books about her, so, I guess I know a bit, but I'm still no expert. You can borrow the books if you want."

"She stares at me." Beca observed, with mocked horror, and smiled at Chloe.

"Yeah, but that's her intention. In all her paintings she looks at the viewer. As if she challenges you to do what you fear most in life." Chloe's hand moved ever so slightly towards Beca's, but she instead grabbed her menu and started to page through it.

"We can all learn from her, I guess." Beca eventually spoke up. Chloe's hand that just moved to hers did not go unnoticed by Beca, and she felt weirdly disappointed that Chloe did not take her hand in hers.

"Yes. For instance, you want to be a dj, Beca. Go for it." Chloe looked at Beca, who pointedly looked down. "Frida Kahlo would've." Chloe lightly joked, and Beca smirked.

"Can you imagine her jamming up a mix?"

Chloe laughed. "Not really…"

"I can't just leave for LA with nothing." Beca realistically began to explain.

"You can start here. You will at least make a name for yourself and it will be easier for you to adjust when you eventually go to LA."

"I guess. I keep giving my mixes for Luke to play, but he doesn't. So that's all I did so far to follow my dream…"

"I'm sure he will play it eventually. In the meantime we should get you a few venues in clubs around town, so that people can get to know your music. And we must think of a plan to change the Bella's set so that we can include some of your material…"

Beca felt her heart swell. Chloe hasn't even heard any of her mixes yet, but she already had so much confidence in her. _Nobody has shown so much confidence in me before – Chloe doesn't even know me so well, yet she believes in me._

"Beca? You're zoning out…"

"It's just, uh, you are so excited about my mixes, which is totally appreciated and all… But you haven't even heard any of my mixes yet. What if you hate it?" Beca worriedly spoke up.

"I won't. I'll love it. Besides, you are a great singer, so at least I know that much." Chloe smiled encouragingly at Beca.

"How can you be so certain that you'll love it?" Beca still felt unsure.

_Because I love everything about you. _Chloe thought, and she cleared her throat.

"Play some of your mixes to me tonight?" Chloe suggested.

"Kimmy-Jin is there tonight, though. She probably still has friends over, discussing fungal growth or something…"

"That's weird…" Chloe frowned, but smiled. "You do have headphones, so I can listen to it while they are there discussing, uh, fungal growth?"

"But I don't want her or her friends to be there when I play a few songs to you. They're going to spoil the moment."

"Will it be a moment?" Chloe smirked.

"Uh..." Beca retracted, but was luckily saved by a waitress standing at their table, asking for their orders.

"Do you guys know what you want yet?" A haughty looking waitress asked Beca and Chloe.

"No." Beca answered.

"We have been talking too much... Give us a couple more minutes to decide please?" Chloe asked the waitress, who rolled her eyes.

"My shift ends in 5 minutes." The haughty looking waitress answered. "You'll have new waitress by the time you make up your minds." The waitress turned and walked towards another table in the diner to clean some plates off.

"Good. I wouldn't have tipped her anyway." Beca dryly remarked, and Chloe giggled.

"Maybe she's just tired." Chloe defended the waitress, and they stared at each other.

"_You_ look tired." Beca suddenly remarked and Chloe lifted an eyebrow.

"Thanks?" Chloe answered, but she smiled at how awkward Beca looked when she tried to correct herself.

"You don't look _bad_. You always look good. You just look _tired_, not bad." Beca quickly explained.

"I always look good?" Chloe smirked.

"Well, you look _well-kept_."

"_Well-kept_?" Chloe was smiling widely at Beca.

"I don't know. You look like a _tidy _person." Beca ended feeling very defeated and she wished the earth would swallow her in whole.

"I _am_ tidy." Chloe nodded and smiled at Beca who was blushing so much now that she looked as if she suffered from light sunburn.

"I'm not tidy." Beca confessed awkwardly.

Chloe smiled. _She is such a weirdo._

"You also look tired." Chloe picked up the conversation again. "_And_ bad." Chloe laughed.

"Well, I'm a bad-ass, Chlo – there's a lot you don't know about me."

_Did she just call me 'Chlo'?_

"No way! You're too sweet to be a bad-ass." Chloe laughed, and Beca gave her a dirty look.

"Fine. You're a bad-ass." Chloe agreed, still smiling at Beca who now smirked at her. "There's actually a lot I don't know about you, Beca."

"Well, I will tell you what you want to know, I guess I just don't know where to start. Should I start with my childhood, my high school days, my friends, my music taste, my favourite food…?"

"You're indecisive." Chloe interrupted, nodding at Beca with a mischievous grin.

"And you are…" Beca sputtered.

"What am I?" Chloe challenged Beca, causing her to release a breath she didn't know she was holding, and she stared for a bit too long into Chloe's searching eyes.

_Beautiful. I can't believe that I actually kissed you last night._

"Bossy." Beca smiled, happy that she saved herself.

Chloe laughed. "Only when I don't get what I want. Or when I'm not in control of what I'll get."

"What do you want?" Beca now challenged Chloe.

_You. _

"A lot of things." Chloe commented, looking distractedly away from Beca, breaking her intense navy blue gaze.

"Do you think you'll eventually get what you want?" Beca asked after a short thoughtful pause, wondering why Chloe's demeanour changed so quickly.

"I don't know." Chloe finally answered and she lifted her shoulders impatiently, still avoiding Beca's gaze.

"We should probably decide what to order, though." Chloe changed the subject and grabbed her menu closer to her again. "I'll have a cappuccino and some pancakes. I'm in the mood for something sweet…"

"Hey, I'll be your new waiter for the night." A new good-looking waitress interrupted Chloe. The waitress was staring at Beca with a teasing expression on her face, waiting for the brunette to make eye-contact with her.

"Lauren?" Beca finally noticed the waitress, she too has been reading the menu, but her thoughts were still trying to figure out Chloe's words so she didn't pay attention to anything else.

"Wow, it took you ages to look up and see me." Lauren laughed.

Chloe eyed Lauren curiously.

"I knew you worked as a waitress but I didn't know you worked here?" Beca asked, who genuinely looked surprised.

"Aah, Beca, and here I thought you came all the way just to visit me at work." Lauren pouted.

"No, I never even knew this place existed." Beca explained. She quickly glanced at Chloe who was staring at Lauren indifferently. Before she could introduce the two to each other, Lauren spoke.

"Yeah, it's a pretty cool place to work. I mostly work night shifts. That's why I'm usually awake when you knock on my door for some coffee and milk." Lauren explained, winking at Beca.

"Chloe, this is Lauren. Lauren this is Chloe." Beca introduced the two to each other, ignoring Lauren's comment.

"Nice to meet you." Chloe greeted, unenthusiastically.

"Likewise." Lauren sweetly agreed. She eyed Chloe suspiciously and Chloe stared back with a look of absolute disinterest.

"So, you are a senior at Barden?" Lauren asked Chloe.

"Yes. How do you know?" Chloe asked. She shifted impatiently on her chair, wanting Lauren to leave. Aubrey telling her earlier that Beca was a womanizer, suddenly made her feel very jealous. _I mean, Lauren is such a flirt. I hate the way she looks at Beca. Does she even know her? How close are the two of them exactly?_

"I've seen you around campus." Lauren explained, again with a very sweet tone of voice Beca has never heard her use before. "You're climbing up the social ladder, Beca, hanging with the cool seniors now, are we?" Lauren joked playfully, and lightly rested her hand on Beca's shoulder.

"We sing a cappella together." Beca simply replied, wanting to move Lauren's hand away from her shoulder, but she also didn't want to be rude.

"And we became _fast_ friends." Chloe added, and grabbed Beca's one hand laying above the table affectionately closer to her. Beca blushed and was sure that this was probably one of the most uncomfortable moments of her life.

"Oh… Beca has never mentioned you before?" Lauren asked, coldly watching Chloe's hand intertwined with Beca's.

"Beca isn't much of a talker, especially if she's tired. Right, Becs?" Chloe asked Beca, who nodded obediently, not knowing what to do else really. _Did she just call me 'Becs'? And she's holding my hand, wait, is she jealous?_

Lauren rolled her eyes and didn't reply.

"I think we need to buy Beca some coffee and milk, don't you Lauren? Then she can stop bothering you so late." Chloe suggested cheerfully.

"Please, no!" Lauren laughed. "That won't be necessary. Beca's random visits brighten up my day, or well, _nights_."

"I can imagine." Chloe dryly commented and she gave Beca an irritated glance.

"Okay!" Beca intervened, breaking the tension. "All this talking about coffee makes me crave a cup."

"One cup of coffee?" Lauren gave Beca a beaming smile, and began to scribble on her small note-pad.

"Yes, thanks, make it one coffee and one cappuccino…" Beca ordered, remembering what Chloe wanted. "And pancakes?" Beca glanced at Chloe, who nodded distractedly.

"Coming up!" Lauren gave Beca a radiant smile, nodded curtly at Chloe, and walked towards the kitchen.

Beca and Chloe both stared at each other and the silence was tense. _Why did Chloe react so weird to Lauren? _

"Is that the girl you want to ask to the wedding?" Chloe asked Beca, annoyed.

"Yeah…" Beca answered cautiously.

"She likes you, Beca." Chloe observed.

"I never realised, actually…" Beca explained. _There were signs that Lauren liked me, but I just ignored it. Why is Chloe so concerned over Lauren liking me anyway? It has nothing to do with Chloe, but then why does it feel as if it does have something to do with her? _

"It's obvious." Chloe interrupted, folding her arms. "But it's not my business, so I'll drop it."

"Thanks." Beca gratefully agreed. _We have gotten along so well tonight, I don't want Lauren to spoil our evening._

But Chloe still looked bothered. "Do _you_ like her?"

Chloe's bluntness threw Beca a bit off guard.

"As a friend, sure. She is always friendly, which is cool, but I'm not interested in more than friendship with her."

"So you're not interested in her?" Chloe concluded, feeling a lot more comfortable and satisfied than a minute ago.

"Nope." Beca replied, watching Chloe's reaction carefully.

"Oh, okay." Chloe answered unaffected, but internally she did a happy dance.

"And if I did like her, would it have bothered you?" Beca dared to ask. She still had too many questions about what just happened.

_Yes. I would've hated the bitch. _Chloe thought bitterly.

"No, not at all. Like I said, it's not my business." Chloe answered nonchalantly.

Beca still felt unconvinced, however.

_If Chloe didn't care, why did she ask? And if she does care, does it mean she cares because she likes me? Urgh, so many questions! She called me 'Becs' though, so she was totally jealous. Or is it just wishful thinking? Probably. I want her to be jealous so therefore I think she is..._

"One coffee!" Lauren was serving them their orders, and her presence broke Beca's thoughts. "A cappuccino…" She placed the cappuccino lazily and loudly in front of Chloe, spilling a bit in the process. "And here are the pancakes."

"Thanks." Chloe thanked Lauren coldly, wiping the spilled cappuccino with a napkin.

"No problem." Lauren looked at Beca. "Will I see you tomorrow night after your night shift at Barden FM?" She asked Beca hopefully.

"Uh, maybe…"

"You work Sunday nights there too?" Chloe interrupted Beca.

"Only every second Sunday. Jesse and I rotate, he worked last Sunday." Beca explained, and Chloe nodded.

"That sucks. But I'm sure all your hard work will pay off eventually." Chloe assured Beca.

"Yeah, I told Luke that I will work every Sunday if he plays my mixes, but he told me to be patient…" Beca added, but Lauren interrupted her.

"Well, I have amazing coffee in my dorm room. So you're _always_ welcome." Lauren assured Beca. "Oh, my manager is calling me…" Lauren waved to the manager and returned her attention to Beca and Chloe. "If you guys want anything else, just call me." She spoke to them with a more professional tone of voice, and walked fleetingly towards the strict looking manager who sat in the corner of the diner.

"I hope she gets into trouble for being such a shitty waitress." Chloe huffed, but the manager only joked with Lauren, who laughed loudly in response before walking towards the kitchen area.

"You can be quite mean, Beale." Beca smirked.

"She did spill my cappuccino." Chloe answered promptly, smiling slightly, and Beca grinned.

"And there goes her tip as well." Beca sighed, making Chloe smile properly.

"No, _that_ will be mean."

"How about we meet up tomorrow during the day, and then I'll play you some of my mixes? If you don't have time, then its fine, I just thought that tomorrow will be perfect…"

"I'd love to! I have time." Chloe eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Cool…" Beca smiled, feeling glad that Chloe agreed. And glad that she will see Chloe again tomorrow.

"Yeah." Chloe and Beca smiled and stared at each other for quite a while, both forgetting about the pancakes that were getting cold on the table.

_I could stare at her the whole day. It's not even awkward. Staring at her just makes me so happy. And Beca's staring at me too, with her trademark smirk I just want to kiss away and…_

Beca's phone rang inside her sling bag, pulling them both out of their trances. Beca quickly got her phone out of the bag, and rolled her eyes.

"It's my dad. I'm not answering." Beca switched off her phone and threw her phone irritably back into her bag.

"He probably wants to apologise." Chloe suggested.

"Yeah, maybe…" Beca answered, looking unconvinced.

"Have you and your father always struggled to get along?" Chloe asked, trying to sound as if she wasn't prying.

_My mother will marry the guy, so it's a good thing to know more about him. Tonight I saw a side of him that I didn't like, and if there are more bad sides to him I don't want my mom to marry him. _

"Since I could remember, yes. He has, well, moods. He is very dedicated to his work in chemistry, and at times he never even came home for days. He slept at the labs and he just, I don't know, he was never 'present', if that makes sense? My mother is awesome, though, and she tried to make up excuses for him. He emotionally manipulated her to always apologise to _him _when he was a tool."

"I think I should discuss this with my mom…"

"You can, but I know my father. He can appear very sweet. He says the right stuff and does all the right things, until something goes wrong. Then he takes it out on everyone. He targets the places that hurt the most. For instance, my mother works as a nurse. She loves her job, but he always looked down on her. Told her she is just every doctor's little "bitch", that she will never earn enough money to pay the bills - like he did back then. He told her so many times how worthless she was, it was, yeah, _horrible_. And she finally left him after being married to him for 10 years. He always focuses on my academics and on me being gay to get to me. It unfortunately always does get to me…"

"You shouldn't let him get to…"

"So he decided to get engaged with your mother. A successful lawyer with a daughter," Beca pointed her head to Chloe, "who's not gay, excels in academics and who is, well, perfect in every aspect he wanted me to be…"

"I'm not perfect…"

"And it felt as if he finally got what he wanted in life. And maybe he has, but he was a douche towards your mother tonight as well, so I don't really think he has changed a lot. Which is unfortunate, but I could be wrong." Beca ended, feeling very drained. She was happy that she finally explained herself to Chloe.

"He doesn't even like dogs and he always refused to get us one." Beca smiled bitterly. "But now he has the all 'American labrador' to go along with his perfect family…"

"Stop!" Chloe looked angry. "We are _not_ perfect, Beca. When my father passed away my mother and I were both a mess for so long… Sometimes I feel as if I will forever be a mess because my father died. There are so many things I wish I said to him…" Chloe began to sob a bit, and Beca felt her heart drop, feeling furious with herself for making Chloe cry. _Me and my big mouth..._

"Chloe…" Beca grabbed Chloe's hand, but she pulled her hand away to wipe the tears from her face.

"No. You don't know a _thing_ about me or my mother or our past. What we went through. My father bought us Pluto two days before he died in a car accident, and that's why we have him. Saying that we are perfect is fucking unfair of you. As if we never went through shitty times, as if we never had to fight for anything." Chloe glared at Beca who was shocked silent. Chloe never cursed_._

_She must be so pissed at me right now for saying all of that stuff… And Chloe is right - I had no right to make judgments about them. I'm such an asshole._

"Sorry… I got carried away… I didn't mean to upset you." Beca quietly spoke.

"And your father is an asshole. I can't believe my mother is engaged to him. And I thought he loved our dog." Chloe sobbed, and Beca felt horrible for thinking how adorable Chloe looked when she sobbed about the dog.

"Maybe my dad does like Pluto? Who can hate him? I, for one, love him. He is soft, cute and he likes chewing on that plastic bone of his, and he seems intelligent too. I heard somewhere that poodles are more intelligent than labradors, but Pluto will totally beat any poodle in any competition. He will even beat those big French poodles who think they're so superior to other dogs... Pluto has that bright, humble-dogish look about him…"

"Shut up." Chloe laughed a bit through her tears at Beca.

"Sorry for crying." Chloe embarrassingly apologised.

"No, I'm sorry. The past few days have been, well, emotional." Beca remarked understandingly.

"You can say that again…" Chloe grimly agreed, and wiped the last tears from her face. Beca was relieved that she wasn't crying anymore.

"Maybe we should call it a night?" Beca asked.

"Yeah. We haven't even touched the pancakes."

"Oh well."

"Are you still hungry?" Chloe asked, remembering that Beca said that she was still hungry when they left her father's house.

"Not really." Beca shrugged.

"Okay, I'll pay the bill."

"I'll pay." Beca quickly got up, but Chloe stopped her.

"You can pay next time. We can come during the day again when there are better waiters."

"It's a date." Beca agreed, and frowned when she realised that she called it 'a date'.

Chloe smiled at Beca, her eyes still a bit red.

"Uh, just like a _meeting _where we will spend time together here again. A time where we talk, laugh and make each other cry. You know, the usual..." Beca jokingly corrected herself.

Chloe laughed. "Sounds wonderful. Except we need to work on the crying part…"

"Yeah, I hate it when you cry." Beca confessed with a pained expression, and Chloe felt touched by Beca's words. "Sorry, I was such a douche."

"It's fine, I mean, maybe our outbursts were necessary? And I hate it when you cry too. When you cried last night I just couldn't take it and…"

Chloe stopped talking, and they stared at each other awkwardly.

_And you kissed me and I kissed you back. And it was amazing… _Beca ended the sentence in her mind.

"I'll go pay quickly at the counter. I don't want to wait for Lauren to bring the bill." Chloe stood up quickly and looked quite flushed as she walked towards a lady standing behind a till.

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**Thanks for all the reviews, follows and favourites! I appreciate it. :) Sorry for the wait. Next chapter will be out middle September. My studies will keep me too busy, but I will complete this. :)**


	10. Chapter 10

"She's not answering." Shane rolled his eyes, but quickly changes his expression when he saw Sheila give him another icy look. He impatiently tried to call Beca again, but it immediately went to voicemail. "She must have switched off her phone. She's avoiding me."

"Do you blame her?" Sheila coldly asked.

She was clearing the table and made a lot of noise. She was still furious with Shane for spoiling their first family dinner.

"You will apologise to Beca tonight. _Not_ tomorrow. _Not_ when you feel like it during the week. _Tonight_."

"Sheila." Shane spoke up, and he uncomfortably placed his hands into his pockets. "It's late. I'm not going over there now."

"I'm serious." Sheila stated warningly, dropping a wine glass loudly onto a tray. Forgetting completely that it was her favourite glasses and that she had it for more than 20 years. She received it from one of her best friends on her wedding day, and only used it for special occasions. Like tonight's dinner with Beca was supposed to be.

Sheila is used to being pissed with clients, lawyers and judges, but the anger she felt now was different – it was personal. She didn't like how Shane spoke to Beca, and to be honest, she has been noticing small quirks and outbursts from Shane the past few months more often as well. She didn't like it, but she ignored it to prevent arguments. When she heard him treat his only daughter so disrespectfully, she had enough.

"Tonight I honestly just wanted to warn Beca about my family that would give her a hard time at our wedding for having a girl as a date. That's all, okay?"

"Don't even begin with the 'I wanted to protect her' bullshit. You don't want her to bring a girl as date, Shane. This is _your_ issue."

"But Sheila, I didn't mean it bad…"

"She's dying for you approval. I couldn't wait to finally have her over for dinner tonight and you spoiled everything! Beca is important to me, even though I hardly see or know her - thanks to you." Sheila gave Shane an accusing look. "Can you understand that? Or should I find a periodic table to point out the main elements?"

"I will get into my car _right now_ and drive to the dorms. I will apologise to Beca. Happy?"

"It doesn't seem as if you are affected or realise how cruel you were tonight and that scares me."

Shane let out a frustrated sigh, and when he said nothing, Sheila continued with her rant.

"Beca will be my daughter one day, and I can't wait. She's unique and special. Chloe seems to get along a lot better with her now too and…" Sheila stopped talking. She didn't want to give voice to her assumptions about the obvious chemistry she observed between Chloe and Beca tonight.

Chloe had crushes on Britney Spears and Kate Moss when she was still a young 7 year old girl – she had posters of the Pussy Cat Dolls on her walls and never listened to their albums. It was not surprising that Chloe liked girls and it didn't bother Sheila in the slightest. She wants Chloe to be happy, because happiness can be taken away from you when you least expect it in life. You should appreciate it when it comes your way.

_Or maybe I'm getting ahead of myself here. It, the tension between Beca and Chloe, could just be an infatuation... Chloe might just feel overly protective of Beca now that she will be her stepsister. I'm not even sure how their connection affects the two of them…_

"If I apologise to her, can we just forget about all of this?" Shane's question brought Sheila back to reality, and she gave Shane a sarcastic look.

"I'm going to shower and read a book in bed. Don't even bother to join me, you can sleep in the spare bedroom and think about your actions tonight." Sheila waved Shane off, and walked out of the dining room, making a mental note to call Chloe the next day.

Shane walked into his study, and poured himself a scotch. He was furious with Beca. She always made things so difficult for him in his life_._ He sat down on his desk and downed the whole contents of his glass in one swallow.

_I'm not going to let Beca spoil my relationship with Sheila. I'm going to go to her dorm room tonight and warn her not to repeat her emotional outburst again when we are all together. Sheila doesn't understand, because her daughter is not a dyke. Chloe is not a disappointment. Sheila has no right to judge me for wanting more from Beca. She has no right at all._

Shane abruptly grabbed his keys, and determinedly made his way to his car.

* * *

"Thank you for tonight, and for driving me back to the dorms." Beca thanked Chloe. The ride back from the diner was silent, but still pleasant. They were sitting in Chloe's car, and she has yet to open the door to leave. She felt an odd emptiness in her heart to say goodbye to Chloe, but knew she had to eventually. _At least I'll see her tomorrow again._

"Yeah, it's nothing." Chloe smiled, and gently rested her hand above Beca's hands that were fidgeting nervously again. Beca skipped a few breaths at the contact, Chloe's hands were soft and warm compared to her cold and nervous hands. She nervously eyed Chloe who stared back calmly.

"Your hands are always fidgeting. Don't be so nervous, we had a fun night despite the dinner earlier." Chloe nodded reassuringly at Beca.

"I am calm." Beca felt stupid for being nervous. _I can't help it, Chloe makes me nervous… Because I think I have fallen for her..._

"Beca?" Chloe spoke up, grinning.

"Wha..? Yeah, sorry. I zoned out again." _Pull it together, Mitchell._

Beca made eye contact with Chloe who was watching her closely.

"I will actually pay a lot of money to know what you are thinking about when you zone out."

Beca started to play with Chloe's hand in top of hers, stroking it lightly with her thumbs absentmindedly and Chloe smirked.

"I still feel bad for telling you to take the bus last night." Chloe changed the subject with a wry smile, letting Beca play with her fingers patiently, and silently cursing herself for feeling so turned on by it. _Seriously, she's only touching your one hand. _

Beca laughed. "It isn't a big deal. Forget it."

"Yeah, I was just, you know, so mad…"

"No! Honestly. Let's not talk about last night." Beca stopped Chloe.

"Okay, I guess…" Chloe tried her best to hide the disappointment in her voice.

"So, I'll text you about tomorrow?" Beca asked.

"What about tomorrow?" Chloe responded confused.

"I'm going to play you some of my mixes?"

"Of course, yeah. Right! I can't wait, text me. I'll be there."

"Cool." Beca replied, smiling.

"Cool." Chloe responded, returning the smile. Beca noticed that her smile seemed a bit forced, but decided not to comment on it. The tension in the car was palpable all of a sudden.

"I should probably go." Beca finally spoke up.

"Yeah, okay..."

"Bye." Beca removed her hands from Chloe's right hand, and opened the car door. Before she could get out, Chloe stopped her by grabbing her arm gently.

"Wait!"

"Yeah?" Beca asked, feeling quite confused.

"Beca." Chloe's voice was soft but determined. She stared intently into Beca's eyes, who stared back awkwardly, waiting for Chloe to speak up.

"What is it, Chloe?" Beca carefully asked.

Chloe dropped her eyes from Beca's gaze.

"Are we never going to talk, I mean, _really_ talk about last night?" Chloe eyed Beca again.

"About the kiss?" Beca dumbly responded, panicking silently. _Oh shit. Here we go…_

Chloe nodded expectantly.

"I think we talked about it enough last night." Beca responded unsurely, and by the look Chloe gave her, she knew she said the wrong thing.

"So to be sure, it _did_ meant nothing to you at all?" Chloe asked, feeling devastated. Again. _Way to go Chloe, and here I began to think Beca had a heart. _

"Not exactly." Beca replied after a while.

"Not exactly?" Chloe asked confused.

"Wait, why am I doing all the answering while you ask all the questions? It's unfair." Beca angrily responded and folded her arms.

Chloe supressed a grin, thinking how adorable Beca looked when she was angry, but she quickly got serious again.

"Yes, you're right. I brought up the topic…"

"Yes." Beca nodded, and waited for Chloe to continue.

Chloe took a big breath. _Just say it._

"I think I like you."

Beca's head snapped towards Chloe.

"What?" Beca breathed. Her heart filled with joy. _She likes me! What?! She actually likes me! But the issues of last night, the stepsister stuff, is still a big issue to me…_

"Yeah… And I understand if you don't like me. Then we just need to keep the past in the past and forget about everything and about me confessing that I might, _might_, like you. And if you do like me too, then we will sort out the stepsister-thing together and work it out?" Chloe looked at Beca, her eyes filled with anticipation while she waited for Beca's response.

"Wow." Beca smirked, and Chloe frowned at her.

"_Wow_? That's all? After all that word vomit, you say 'wow'? Beca, I don't think you grasp _this _situation fully. I haven't been able to function properly since our kiss, or since the car wash, to be honest, and I need a better answer than 'wo…"

Beca jumped forward from her seat and kissed Chloe, stopping her nervous rant. She kissed Chloe as if her life depended on it, and she smiled in the kiss when a shocked Chloe awkwardly pulled Beca closer. Chloe's hesitation didn't last too long, and before Beca knew it Chloe pushed her back into her seat and kissed Beca's jawline, allowing her to take a few breaths.

"I thought you said I was a bad kisser?" Beca breathlessly asked, and smirked when Chloe lightly bit her underneath her jawline before replying, just as breathless.

"I would never say that."

"That's what you implied." Beca smirked and met Chloe's lips again, and she trailed her tongue lightly on Chloe's lips which she immediately opened, allowing her to deepen the kiss. Chloe abruptly broke away, causing Beca to huff impatiently, and Chloe smiled.

"I thought you said we had no chemistry?"

Beca smiled, and trailed her fingers through Chloe's red locks.

"I did, yes." Beca stubbornly answered, supressing a grin.

Chloe smirked, and when Beca went in to kiss her again, she stopped her.

"Do we have chemistry, Becs?" Chloe directly asked, ghosting a kiss on Beca's lips.

"Uh… Yes." Beca managed to get out. Chloe's hands were trailing patterns on her stomach again, and she could hardly think.

"There, was that so hard to admit?" Chloe pecked Beca on her lips, and the dj rolled her eyes, but soon got lost on the light kissed Chloe placed on her face and on her neck.

"I hate it when you're right." Beca managed to get out.

"I'm always right." Chloe smiled mischievously.

"Somebody is getting cocky…"

"Well, obviously. I'm making out with Beca Mitchell in my car." Chloe smiled proudly.

Beca's head rested awkwardly close to the staring wheel, and when she tried to position herself a bit better to kiss Chloe again, she unintentionally pressed the horn with her head. The loud noise made them both jump with surprise, and Chloe giggled.

"Can't we like, go to a better place? I never thought I'd be the one to get involved in a car make-out session. It feels so – _dirty_." Beca dryly remarked and Chloe smiled.

"Car make-outs are the best." Chloe rested her head on Beca's shoulder, but she too realised how uncomfortably they were positioned. "It's weird though, we are super uncomfortable and yet I am _very _comfortable."

"Me too."

Beca and Chloe were both in a trance, and they merely stared at each other for a while, not noticing the harsh footsteps that were loudly making its way towards Chloe's car.

Suddenly a very loud and abrupt knock on the passenger's seat window, caused them to break apart.

Beca tried to tidy up her hair, and nervously looked at whoever it might have been who knocked on the window.

"Chloe! _Beca_?! Oh my god!"

Beca tried to see who it was, and felt relieved when she saw Stacie and Fat Amy peek through the open window on Chloe's side.

Chloe tightly gripped Beca's hand and whispered, "We'll continue this later. Let's get out."

Beca opened the door and brushed her hair out of her face when she got out, causing Stacie and Fat Amy to laugh and wolf-whistle.

"Nice make-out hair, Beca." Stacie patted Beca encouragingly on the back.

"Yeah, I mean, this morning my blind grandmother called me all the way from Tasmania. She asked if you two were together already because she could see you're attraction from there." Amy explained dramatically, and pointed into a direction.

Chloe giggled and Beca rolled her eyes, but she grinned when she felt Chloe hug her from behind, holding her close.

"And then she asked me whether you two have kissed Australian yet." Amy mumbled, and Stacie laughed loudly. She has obviously heard whatever Amy was about to say before.

"An Australian kiss?" Beca asked confused.

"Yeah, it's like a French kiss but it's down-under."

"Dude! No!" Beca covered her hands with her face, and pulled away from Chloe.

Amy, Stacie and Chloe laughed loudly at Beca's reaction, and Chloe pulled Beca back to her lazily.

"Not yet, Amy." Chloe answered Amy and gave Beca a wink. They all laughed loudly when Beca gave Chloe an incredulous look.

"What are you both doing here?" Beca asked her fellow Bella's. Stacie lived in a flat close to campus and Amy lived in a mansion quite a while away. They were almost never at the dorms.

"We are planning a party on Tuesday at Amy's and we're giving out invites. We saw Chloe's car and well... You guys know what happened next." Stacie explained. "Here's your invites." Stacie handed them two flyers.

"You guys can only have sex in the spare bedrooms, though, my bedroom is off-limits." Fat Amy smiled at the two of them, enjoying how awkward the two of them were.

"Cynthia-Rose owes Amy and me, like, 50$. We said you guys would get together over the weekend, and Cynthia said that you two will get together during next week. And _we_ were right!" Stacie lifted her shoulders, as if she knew it all along that Beca and Chloe would get together tonight.

"You had a bet about Beca and I?" Chloe asked sceptically. _Were we that obvious?_

"We all knew it was a matter of time before you two, you know, would jump each other."

Beca cringed. _That's totally what I did._ Chloe gave Beca a knowing look, making the dj feel, if possible, even more shy.

"And I finally won a bet against CR! This is the perfect night." Fat Amy lifted her hands into the sky, and slapped her stomach as she brought it back down… "Stacie and I need to get going, though, we have places to be and people to meet…" Amy explained, and Stacie nodded.

"We'll see you two dirty birds Monday at the Bella practice!" Stacie greeted.

When Stacie and Amy drove off, Chloe and Beca turned to each other.

"So, that was awkward." Chloe chuckled and Beca turned to face her. Chloe grinned when Beca rested her arms around her neck.

"It would have been nice if we could have been quiet about, us, for like _a day_." Beca pouted.

"So there is an 'us'?" Chloe beamed at Beca

"Yeah? If that's like, fine?" Beca responded unsurely.

"That's more than fine." Chloe smiled. "Maybe we can continue this tomorrow? When you play me you're mixes..."

"Yes." Beca pecked Chloe on the lips.

"It's going to be aca-awesome." Chloe sighed.

"But what about, uh, you know…" Beca began, and she felt Chloe's body tense.

"About the stepsister stuff?" Chloe knowingly finished Beca's sentence.

"Yeah…" Beca unsurely looked at Chloe who was watching her carefully, as if she carefully contemplated every word that she was about to say.

"We just, don't tell our parents? At least until we figure this out for ourselves. A week ago I didn't like you so much…"

"I didn't like you at all." Beca shrugged, and Chloe gave Beca a 'yeah right' look.

"You totes did." Chloe winked at Beca, who smirked.

"Did not! You were so…"

Chloe lifted her eyebrows expectantly, smiling at Beca.

"Bubbly and happy."

Chloe laughed. "And you were such a _little _emo and so angry at everybody when you had to sing and dance. You _always_ looked _very_ _cute _to me, though…."

"Oh, shush. You used the word 'little' and 'cute' in the same sentence again..." Beca smiled.

"Did I?" Chloe answered with playful innocence.

"Let's just kiss and figure this out about us another time…" Beca pulled Chloe closer to her.

"Mmm… You like to shut me up with kisses, and I must say, it's better than the sarcasm..."

"Don't act like you don't like it. You love the sarcasm…" Beca pecked Chloe on the lips.

"Yeah, I do…" Chloe sighed, and went in to close the gap between them, but Beca stopped her.

"What?" Chloe gave Beca concerned look.

"But I just hope that we can figure this out. I don't want us to get involved if it will cause too many problems."

"We will figure it out. Our parents will not find out, and my mom will be fine with it. Your dad, well, let's not even think about him now." Chloe tried to reassure Beca, and she kissed her tenderly. It was a kiss much different than the other kisses they shared. It was comfortable and it felt right, and yet, it was intense and electrifying. They broke the kiss simultaneously and smiled at each other.

"Wow." Beca said for the second time that night.

"Yeah… I need to get going, Beca. Aubrey might wonder where I am and well, if I don't leave now I'll…" Chloe abruptly stopped mid-sentence.

"Sure… Bye Chlo." Beca knowingly answered with a grin, she noticed that neither of them moved yet. Both of them were still clinging onto each other.

"Bye Beca-bear." Chloe smiled at Beca, who tried her best not to grin at the redhead.

"Watch it, Beale."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll never play you my mixes." Beca responded strictly.

"You might not play it to me, but I will still listen to it." Chloe stubbornly answered with a playful smile.

"Are you saying that you'll _steal_ my mixes?" Beca mocked an offended tone.

"Maybe, I'll get into your dorm room by bribing Kimmy-Jin with a book about fungi or something…"

"I'll send you to prison if you do that, m'lady." Beca planted a kiss on Chloe's cheek.

"I've seen Orange Is The New Black. I'd _love_ prison."

"You'll go to a shitty prison. Like, with no hot or interesting people."

"Then I'll just have to take you with me." Chloe gave Beca her signature predatory smile.

Beca laughed nervously. _So Chloe thinks I'm hot and interesting? This night is possibly the best night ever... _

"I'm _really_ going now, Chloe. I'll see you tomorrow." Beca broke their embrace reluctantly and started walking towards the door.

"Wait, a final goodbye kiss, and then I'll leave you alone." Chloe smirked, and pulled Beca towards her again.

"Fine." Beca feigned an impatient tone, and smiled when Chloe kissed her again, but they broke apart when they heard a loud voice interrupting them. A voice all too familiar to Beca, and she felt as if somebody threw an ice bucket over head.

It was Beca's father and he looked devilish.

"What in heaven's name is going on here?" Shane dangerously asked Beca. He gave them both a look of absolute disgust.

"Uh, dad…" Beca panicked. Not having a clue what to say or to do, she pushed Chloe roughly away from her.

_Oh shit, what am I going to do now? He knows..._

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**Until the next chapter then...! ;)**

**(Thank you for the kind reviews, I appreciate it.) **


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